Tim Hortons wants to give you free coffee and doughnuts to apologize for tracking your location without your permission.
The popular cafe chain recently agreed to settle multiple class action lawsuits against it by giving out free doughnuts and coffee to eligible customers, per Engadget.
It is currently unknown if the Superior Courts of Quebec, British Columbia, and Ontario would accept Tim Hortons' settlement suggestion, per Canada's Global News.
Tim Hortons Free Coffee And Doughnut Settle Suggestion Facts
Tim Hortons mentioned in an email to customers that it wants to give eligible customers free food and doughnuts as its settlement of the many class action actions it is currently facing.
Furthermore, it will delete any geolocation data it obtained from them between April 1, 2019, and September 30th, 2020. Additionally, it will also tell Radar Labs, a Delaware-based location data startup and third-party vendor, according to its official website, to do the same.
Although the deletion of all recorded geolocation data is guaranteed, Tim Hortons could only go ahead with its settlement suggestion if a judge grants its approval.
Interestingly, Tim Hortons stated that "all parties" have agreed that its proposed settlement is far and that it looks forward to the decision of Quebec's Superior Court on whether the company has the go-ahead to do so or not.
These parties Tim Hortons referred to in its statement may be the ones who filed the class action lawsuits in Quebec, British Columbia, and Ontario.
The company also hopes that the Superior Courts in British Columbia and Ontario will recognize the approval of their counterpart in Quebec should it finds the company's proposal satisfactory.
Simply put, Tim Hortons will give you coffee and a doughnut in exchange for your location data and an apology.
Tim Hortons Class Action Lawsuit History
The class action lawsuits Tim Hortons face originates from an already ongoing investigation by the OPC of Tim Hortons' breach of customer privacy, wherein it was keeping tabs on the location of customers using the company's Tim Hortons app.
According to a report from the OPC, Tim Hortons was collecting the location data of customers using its app even when not in use. This data gathering resulted in a "loss of users' privacy that was not proportional to the potential benefits Tim Hortons may have hoped to gain from improved targeted promotion of its coffee and associated products."
The OPC's report also found in its investigation that there was a "lack of contractual safeguards" for users' personal data while these are being collected by Radar Labs. This lack of protection means that Radar Labs could use the collected location data for its own purposes or for other campaigns Tim Hortons' customers were unaware of.
The OPC's investigation was only launched after National post reporter James McLeod acquired data showing his Tim Hortons app had tracked his location more than 2,700 times in less than five months, even without using the app.
