Wholesome Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons has reached a proposed settlement in multiple class action lawsuits alleging the restaurant's mobile app violated customer privacy, which would see the restaurant offer a free coffee and doughnut to impacted users.
The proposed settlement would provide a conclusion to one of the more bizarre location gathering scandals in recent years, though still requires court approval. The news comes after an investigation by federal and provincial privacy watchdogs found the mobile ordering app violated the law by collecting vast amounts of location information from customers.
The coffee and doughnut chain will permanently delete any geolocation information it may have collected between April 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020, and will direct third-party service providers to do the same.
In a report released last month, privacy commissioners said people who downloaded the Tim Hortons app had their movements tracked and recorded every few minutes -- even when the app was not open on their phones.
An email sent to affected users alluded to the Tim Horton app tracking every time a user entered or left a Tim Hortons competitor, a major sports venue, or their home or workplace. Canadian regulators said that Tim Hortons’ data collection violated Canadian law.
The email specifies that the one free hot beverage has a retail value of CAD$6.19 plus taxes, and the free baked good has a retail value of CAD$2.39.
