Bell Mobility (TSX:BCE) and subsidiary Virgin Mobile Canada have been hit with a $750-million class-action lawsuit following allegations they tracked and sold sensitive customer data as part of a now-cancelled relevant ads program (RAP).
The lawsuit, launched April 16 by Sutts, Strosberg LLP and Charney Lawyers, alleges the telecom giant collected customer account and Internet browsing information and sold the data to advertisers.
“The plaintiffs and the numerous people who’ve contacted me have real concerns that their private information was sold without their knowledge,” said lawyer David Robins of Sutts, Strosberg LLP.
“That breach of privacy was significant. We say that Bell generated revenue from this illegal conduct — conduct that the privacy commissioner said violated the federal privacy statute.”
In an April 7 report, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPCC) determined Bell was making customers click a link at the bottom of the program’s website before following a number of prompts if they wished to opt out of the RAP.
“In our view, the sheer breadth of information being used or contemplated for the RAP (including internet, telephone and television network usage information, as well as account/demographic information) renders such information more sensitive when compiled,” the report said.
“We felt that the privacy implications of the initiative were significant enough to require opt-in consent from customers.”
Bell initially refused to seek explicit consent from customers, but after the OPCC threatened to go to federal court over the matter the wireless provider said it was cancelling the RAP and it would instead use an opt-in model if it launched a similar program later on.
Robins told Business in Vancouver the $750 million is based on an “amount that we feel is appropriate” given the brevity of the circumstances.
“Certainly the plaintiff seeks accountability for Bell’s alleged misconduct in this relevant ads program and as well the hope is that the message will be sent to all other providers that the sharing or sale of customers’ personal and confidential information without their informed consent is not acceptable.”
Although Bell said it would delete all data collected for the program, the lawsuit is also seeking to have an expert appointed to supervise the destruction of all the information that was tracked.
A spokeswoman from Bell declined to comment on the lawsuit.
But in an email sent to BIV last week, the company said it was dedicated to protecting customer privacy and thanked the OPCC for clarifying the rules.
“These are rules that must apply not only to Canadian companies but to international companies operating here, like Facebook and Google, to ensure a fair and competitive marketplace,” spokesman Jason Laszlo wrote in an email.
