<rant>
TL;DR: Victims of illegal geolocation data collection rewarded with a drink and a donut purchased from the violators. Right to privacy: 0. Tim Hortons & the law society: 1.
God we're dumb. It's painful. There I was minding my own business when I came across a headline that stopped me dead in my tracks:
Tim Hortons' app users to get free beverage and baked good after Quebec court approves class action settlement
Class action alleged the coffee chain's mobile app breached users' privacy
Back story: Tim Hortons violates our right to privacy
On June 12th 2020, Financial Post published a damning article accusing Tim Hortons of illegally collecting geolocation data on their app - ALL THE TIME.
[...] From my home to my office to a Blue Jays game at Rogers Centre, even all the way to Morocco, where I travelled on vacation last June, the company’s app silently logged my coordinates and relayed them back to its corporate servers. [...]
Full circle: A settlement that sets the bar
Oh wow, what a shocker! Our beloved Canadian coffee chain caught red-handed by the Canadian privacy watchdogs invading their customers' privacy by collecting their "highly personal" information through their app without proper consent. Who could have seen that coming?
The investigation uncovered that Tim Hortons had tricked their customers into believing their information was only being accessed when they actually used the app. Where have I heard that one before...
And so, this violation of our fundamental right to privacy went through the legal system. Lawyers from one side met lawyers from the other, and they agreed on a settlement.
A fucking brew and a donut. Credited in the app, which expires after 12 months if not used.
So Tim Hortons is paying you for the violation of rights, by giving you a coupon you'll spend... at Tim Hortons.
The only fuckers that got paid in this scam were those working for THE LAW SOCIETY. The lawyers - they got paid. They ALWAYS get paid. And what did you get? You, whose right to privacy was violated? A fucking coffee. Osti. De crisse. De colisse. De tabarnac. Fucking crickets from the crowd so loud my ear drums feel like their bleeding. </rant>
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