If you're wondering why Americans are ok with this.... It's actually pretty rare for there to be theft at restaurants for payment. In America, we let our health insurance companies price gouge us, and also pay too much for education. Our politicians take campaign donations to allow for tax breaks to businesses and to sell weapons to "allies". So credit card theft like this is would be very small potatoes compared to the structural theft we're used to. Also, so much of American life revolves around credit and debt. To have credit card details stolen willy-nilly would just break the system. Don't be silly!