Tim Horton's spied on its customers through its app (illegal, regular, suspect)
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I am not sure how alarming this is, but in reading the article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/p...fee-settlement I was surprised to see the following (QUOTE, my italics):
"The investigation was sparked after a reporter from the Financial Post claimed in 2020 that the Tim Hortons app recorded his GPS location 2,700 times over five months. The four class-action lawsuits against the chain's owner, Restaurant Brands International, were filed after the report." [end quote]
The restaurant proposed giving each of the customers it spied on a free cup of coffee and a doughnut as part of the settlement.
Well, I would not be at all surprised if this kind of thing is going on with various governments and law enforcement agencies, but the fact that even restaurants have this kind of monitoring available to them is at least a little bit concerning to me.
I am not sure how alarming this is, but in reading the article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/p...fee-settlement I was surprised to see the following (QUOTE, my italics):
"The investigation was sparked after a reporter from the Financial Post claimed in 2020 that the Tim Hortons app recorded his GPS location 2,700 times over five months. The four class-action lawsuits against the chain's owner, Restaurant Brands International, were filed after the report." [end quote]
The restaurant proposed giving each of the customers it spied on a free cup of coffee and a doughnut as part of the settlement.
Well, I would not be at all surprised if this kind of thing is going on with various governments and law enforcement agencies, but the fact that even restaurants have this kind of monitoring available to them is at least a little bit concerning to me.
Does it bother you at all?
Depends. Is the doughnut they’re offering plain or fancy?
I am not sure how alarming this is, but in reading the article from https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/p...fee-settlement I was surprised to see the following (QUOTE, my italics):
"The investigation was sparked after a reporter from the Financial Post claimed in 2020 that the Tim Hortons app recorded his GPS location 2,700 times over five months. The four class-action lawsuits against the chain's owner, Restaurant Brands International, were filed after the report." [end quote]
The restaurant proposed giving each of the customers it spied on a free cup of coffee and a doughnut as part of the settlement.
Well, I would not be at all surprised if this kind of thing is going on with various governments and law enforcement agencies, but the fact that even restaurants have this kind of monitoring available to them is at least a little bit concerning to me.
Does it bother you at all?
Yes, it is bothersome and should be illegal if not already.
This is not really that odd, and it "should" not be surprising.
Anyone with a phone that has GPS(iPhone, Samsung, Google...etc), can have their location tracked by any app on their phone. It is up to the user to turn this off or allow it only in certain circumstances. Yes, the Governments can track your location, and they tried to go all-in with COVID and "Contact Tracing". They even got the major phones to update their software to allow this in a more "secretive" way than just the regular location tracking. But there was huge pushback from this, and it never took hold like I think they were hoping. Although I think it would also be very naive to think that there is not some "tracking" going on.
I suspect that if you have most people look at their settings they wouldn't even realize how many things they give access to their location too. But in reality, if you look at the numbers for this person they had their location "tracked" less than once per hour over the entire 5-month period.
The issue that they had, and the issue that is generally always the reason, is that they did not get the permission of the User. It's funny though that they feel that someone's privacy is worth less than $10 CAD.
Immediate thought Every store/retail app tracks purchases, location, purchases, how you paid. Don't use an app if you don't want it tracked. I suspect even the beloved Duck Duck Go tracks data on users...or else they have no way to know who is using, how they use the app.
... The issue that they had, and the issue that is generally always the reason, is that they did not get the permission of the User. It's funny though that they feel that someone's privacy is worth less than $10 CAD.
They don't have the permission buried somewhere in the terms you agree to when you install the app?
I don't put that crap my phone because to me it seems reasonable that simply by installing the Tim Horton (or McDonald's, etc etc) app you imply permission (whether specifically asked for it or not) because they need your location to be useful.
I never have these problems with my LG VX8300. I bought it new in 2007 and use it everyday. It still has the original battery.
If not for Verizon dropping CDMA, I would keep it forever.
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