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The Tim Hortons mobile app in Canada did this very thing: monitoring your GPS location 24/7, and logging special events when you entered a competitor's store, l

by stewx 4y ago

The Tim Hortons mobile app in Canada did this very thing: monitoring your GPS location 24/7, and logging special events when you entered a competitor's store, like Starbucks. https://www.reuters.com/technology/investigation-finds-tim-hortons-app-violated-privacy-laws-says-canadian-2022-06-01/ https://www.reuters.com/technology/investigation-finds-tim-h...

MonkeyMalarky 4y ago
The proposed settlement is absolutely insulting too. A coffee and donut: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tim-hortons-app-1.6536175 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tim-hortons-app-1.6536175
- wilg 4y ago
  Should at least have been a Starbucks coffee
  - muddi900 4y ago
    And a Krispy Kreme or a Dunkin. Tim Horton's donuts suck donkey nards
chasd00 4y ago
correct me if i'm wrong but won't your phone prompt you to explicitly allow access to a service when the app requests it? When the Tim Hortons app asks to use your location can't you Just Say No? ...or at most allow once.
- flutas 4y ago
  > When the Tim Hortons app asks to use your location can't you Just Say No? ...or at most allow once. Let us know when you're in the drive through! Just say yes to this prompt. [location prompt] === I've actually been curious about this for a bit, I need to dig in to some apps to see what they're doing. I've noticed, for example, the Chick-Fil-A app does that prompt, and then continues monitoring your location even after you've gotten your order and aren't near the restaurant anymore.
  - ev1 4y ago
    CFA app loads a bunch of rather fucked up surveillance SDKs under the guise of anti coupon fraud or something. Probably related to that.
  - azinman2 4y ago
    That why iOS has a lot of fine grain control now as well as prompts after the fact letting you know how many times the app has accessed your location, and check if you still want it to have it.
  - 8n4vidtmkvmk 4y ago
    there should be a "for 30 minutes" button. background is ok so i can so other things.. but only while I'm waiting for my order or something.
- stewx 4y ago
  That's not the point, though. When people allow location permissions they would assume it's to help with ordering, not to track your position 24 hours a day. It's a violation of customers' trust.
  - chasd00 4y ago
    totally agree but I think a quick fix could be to go through your list of apps and deny location services to all of them. Then, as you use them, selectively enable location services on an app by app basis taking trust into consideration. Granted, you're still trusting the operating system to be honest here and actually deny location services.
evandale 4y ago
This article has more details of what they did and the little tap on the wrist our privacy commission gave them over it: https://globalnews.ca/news/8884583/tim-hortons-app-privacy-commissioner-decision/ https://globalnews.ca/news/8884583/tim-hortons-app-privacy-c...
CyanBird 4y ago
Just went to check my apps and Instagram had given itself GPS access.... That's reassuring...
bilekas 4y ago
> "We've strengthened our internal team that's dedicated to enhancing best practices when it comes to privacy and we’re continuing to focus on ensuring that guests can make informed decisions about their data when using our app," This almost annoys me more than the original intent. They could at least own their actions instead of treating everyone like a moron.

by stewx 4y ago

MonkeyMalarky 4y ago

The proposed settlement is absolutely insulting too. A coffee and donut: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tim-hortons-app-1.6536175 https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/tim-hortons-app-1.6536175

wilg 4y ago
Should at least have been a Starbucks coffee
- muddi900 4y ago
  And a Krispy Kreme or a Dunkin. Tim Horton's donuts suck donkey nards

chasd00 4y ago

correct me if i'm wrong but won't your phone prompt you to explicitly allow access to a service when the app requests it? When the Tim Hortons app asks to use your location can't you Just Say No? ...or at most allow once.

flutas 4y ago
> When the Tim Hortons app asks to use your location can't you Just Say No? ...or at most allow once. Let us know when you're in the drive through! Just say yes to this prompt. [location prompt] === I've actually been curious about this for a bit, I need to dig in to some apps to see what they're doing. I've noticed, for example, the Chick-Fil-A app does that prompt, and then continues monitoring your location even after you've gotten your order and aren't near the restaurant anymore.
- ev1 4y ago
  CFA app loads a bunch of rather fucked up surveillance SDKs under the guise of anti coupon fraud or something. Probably related to that.
- azinman2 4y ago
  That why iOS has a lot of fine grain control now as well as prompts after the fact letting you know how many times the app has accessed your location, and check if you still want it to have it.
- 8n4vidtmkvmk 4y ago
  there should be a "for 30 minutes" button. background is ok so i can so other things.. but only while I'm waiting for my order or something.
stewx 4y ago
That's not the point, though. When people allow location permissions they would assume it's to help with ordering, not to track your position 24 hours a day. It's a violation of customers' trust.
- chasd00 4y ago
  totally agree but I think a quick fix could be to go through your list of apps and deny location services to all of them. Then, as you use them, selectively enable location services on an app by app basis taking trust into consideration. Granted, you're still trusting the operating system to be honest here and actually deny location services.

evandale 4y ago

This article has more details of what they did and the little tap on the wrist our privacy commission gave them over it: https://globalnews.ca/news/8884583/tim-hortons-app-privacy-commissioner-decision/ https://globalnews.ca/news/8884583/tim-hortons-app-privacy-c...

CyanBird 4y ago

Just went to check my apps and Instagram had given itself GPS access.... That's reassuring...

bilekas 4y ago

> "We've strengthened our internal team that's dedicated to enhancing best practices when it comes to privacy and we’re continuing to focus on ensuring that guests can make informed decisions about their data when using our app," This almost annoys me more than the original intent. They could at least own their actions instead of treating everyone like a moron.