The Tim Hortons coffee chain is the subject of a Canadian survey concerning the collection and use of personal information from its customers via its mobile application used for orders.
According to an article in the Financial Post, the Tim Hortons application could “collect and use data on the movement of people as they go about their daily business.”
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) said on Monday that the investigation will be conducted jointly with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. British Columbia Information and Protection of Privacy and the Quebec Access to Information Commission.
Screen capture from the internet
The survey, conducted jointly by four organizations, including the Quebec Access to Information Commission, will focus on the use of geolocation.
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Four organizations
These four organizations will notably verify whether this division of Restaurant Brands International complies with the laws on the protection of personal information and electronic documents.
The OPC will also verify if the brand has obtained valid consent from the users of the application to collect and use their geolocation data “for purposes that could include collecting and using detailed user profiles” and if “The collection and use of data is appropriate in the circumstances”.
The CPVQ management, who refused to grant interviews on this subject, is of the opinion that geolocation can reveal “very sensitive” information on people’s lifestyle.
Application modified
For its part, the management of Tim Hortons told the Financial Post have made changes to its application.
In a media article, we read that consumer data would have been recorded every three to five minutes and that the company Radar Labs was responsible for analyzing it. In addition, the information was collected, even if the application was closed.
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