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Tim Hortons coffee app broke law by constantly recording users' movements:
Canadian investigators 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 open, in violation of the country'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," according to an announcement Wednesday by Canada's Office of the Privacy Commissioner. The federal office collaborated with provincial authorities in Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta in the investigation of Tim Hortons.
"The app also used location data to infer where users lived, where they worked, and whether they were traveling," the Office of the Privacy Commissioner said. "It generated an 'event' every time users entered or left a Tim Hortons competitor, a major sports venue, or their home or workplace."
Tim Hortons scrapped plans to use the app for targeted advertising but "continued to collect vast amounts of location data" for another year "even though it had no legitimate need to do so," the Office of the Privacy Commissioner said. Tim Hortons said it used aggregated location data "to analyze user trends—for example, whether users switched to other coffee chains, and how users' movements changed as the pandemic took hold," the federal office said.
(Score: 3, Funny) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday June 07 2022, @02:21PM (5 children)
It's like the environmental / health damages lawsuits, they (the companies) will promise to do better, they will say they're doing better, they will be proven to cause harm, they will continue insisting that no harm is being caused by them, and when the lawsuits start falling one after the other against them with judgements increasing each time, they will eventually cave under the weight of precedent and the inevitability of greater losses than gains.
It's not personal, it's business. That data is worth millions to them, they'll do whatever they can to continue collecting it until the judgements against them become more expensive. To do less would be violating their duty to the shareholders: to maximize profits.
Simple minds, predictable outcomes.
Україна досі не є частиною Росії Слава Україні🌻 https://news.stanford.edu/2023/02/17/will-russia-ukraine-war-end
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 07 2022, @02:55PM (4 children)
This is why I give apps that permission only for the current use. It's a pain, but worth it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 07 2022, @06:21PM (3 children)
Worth it? What precious value to you place on your position?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 07 2022, @06:58PM
Aggregation.
The fact that I'm on the same block as Gary's Genital Wart Removal Emporium might be innocuous, given that Gary's corporate neighbours are Frank's Tackle and Bait to the west, and Susan B Anthony Welding and Dog Grooming to the east.
But couple that information with the fact that I was at my doctor's office one hour ago (technically it could have been any of the 12 doctors' offices in that building), and you have good odds of winning a bet about what happened during that appointment.
Privacy violation is fucking serious; collection and aggregation of privacy-violating data is even more serious. Even the smallest chunks of data allow accurate inference! There's a whole genre of books devoted to casually solving logic puzzles of this nature.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday June 07 2022, @11:20PM
I live next door to Runsaway in Canukansaws, so I am worried about the collateral damage when Auntie Pha pays him a visit on family business.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 08 2022, @02:12AM
Honestly, you never really know what companies are going to combine it with and what they'll do with it. It's not as much protection as it should be, but every phone sold in recent times can and will track itself.