Privacy commissioner probing customers’ claims they can’t delete PC Optimum accounts

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has opened an investigation into allegations that some Loblaw customers have been unable to delete their PC Optimum accounts.

The office has received several such complaints, spokesman Vito Pilieci said in an email Tuesday.

He said the office can’t comment further due to the active investigation.

Loblaw spokeswoman Catherine Thomas said in an email Tuesday that the company will fully co-operate with the privacy commissioner’s office.

In an email to one complainant viewed by The Canadian Press, an investigator for the commissioner’s office said they have received “a high number of complaints” regarding attempts to cancel PC Optimum accounts.

Several complainants allege they have tried several times to delete their accounts, and that Loblaw has been unresponsive to their queries, the investigator wrote.

“We have a process in place to close PC Optimum accounts as requested, generally within a few weeks and often much sooner than that. During the process, customers will receive an email acknowledging their request, and one confirming the closure,” said Thomas in an email Wednesday.

“When calls and/or online requests for our customer service team are higher than normal, it may take a little longer for them to respond. We apologize to anyone who felt the timeline was unreasonable.”

The PC Optimum loyalty program has more than 16 million active users, according to Loblaw’s 2023 annual report.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner oversees compliance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) as well as the Privacy Act.

According to its website, PIPEDA “sets the ground rules for how private-sector organizations collect, use, and disclose personal information in the course of for-profit, commercial activities across Canada.”

Personal information under PIPEDA includes details such as a person’s name, age, income or ID number.

Under PIPEDA, consumers have the right to request access to their data and have it deleted, as long as it’s not still required, said Aaron Shull, managing director and general counsel for the Centre for International Governance Innovation.

In the case of deleting an entire loyalty program account, it’s unlikely the information would still be required by the company, he added.

Shull noted Loblaw’s privacy policy says consumers have the right to request access to, correct, and delete their personal information. The policy says the company will respond to requests “within a reasonable timeframe, in compliance with applicable laws.”

A likely outcome of the investigation would be for Loblaw and the commissioner to come to an agreement on what constitutes a reasonable timeframe, he said: “That’s basically what the privacy commissioner is going to try and determine.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 24, 2024.

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Rosa Saba, The Canadian Press