Tim Hortons in hot water

Tim Hortons, Halifax. © iStock.

Investigators at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner determined that users of the Tim Hortons coffee chain’s mobile app “had their movements tracked and recorded every few minutes of every day” even when the app wasn’t active, violating Canada’s privacy laws. “The Tim Hortons app asked for permission to access the mobile device’s geolocation functions but misled many users to believe information would only be accessed when the app was in use. In reality, the app tracked users as long as the device was on, continually collecting their location data,” explains the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in an announcement. Tim Hortons stopped its user geolocation in 2020 when authorities started investigating. The company will not have to pay fines because it has “committed to implementing satisfactory corrective actions.” Even without sanctions, this story, abundantly commented in the media, is bad publicity for the well-known double-double store.

⇨ Ars Technica, Jon Brodkin, “Tim Hortons coffee app broke law by constantly recording users’ movements.”

2022-06-02