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Canada’s privacy commissioner and three provincial counterparts have launched an investigation into Tim Hortons’ mobile app for how it’s tracking its user’s activities.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, along with the privacy commissioners of Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta, will jointly examine if Tim Hortons’ app adheres to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
According to the Financial Post, the Tim Hortons app pinged location data every three to five minutes, as well as whenever the app believes the user has visited a competitor’s stores. Financial Post reporter James McLeod discovered that the Tim Hortons app was able to track the latitude and longitude of his precise location, including his workplace, and when he entered or exited his workplace building. McLeod wrote that the app does not clearly inform the user of its level of precision.
On June 18, several watchdog agencies have begun investigating if Tim Hortons location tracking technology, provided by Radar Labs, has sufficient permission to gather precise location data tracking.
The official media release stated that no additional details are available at this time and interviews are not possible due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.