Canada’s Privacy Commissioner will report Wednesday on the results of the investigation into whether Tim Hortons The mobile ordering app inappropriately tracked the user’s whereabouts without their explicit consent.
The 23-month investigation comes after National Post reporter James McLeod obtained data showing that the Tim Hortons mobile app tracked his location more than 2,700 times in less than five months.
The tracking happens even when he’s not using the app, although the company’s website states that tracking will only happen while the app is open.
Federal Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien conducted the investigation along with privacy commissioners from British Columbia, Quebec and Alberta.
The investigation is expected to determine whether Restaurant Brands International, the parent company of Tim Hortons, complied with Canada’s national privacy laws and received “meaningful consent” from users to collect and use their location data or not.
Once the investigation was launched, a statement from the company expressed confidence that the issue would be resolved and the app updated to ensure location data is tracked only while the app is in use. regardless of the selected phone setting.
© 2022 Canadian Press
