To get out of the red, Canada Post is selling our personal information to the highest bidders. The state-owned company was sued by the privacy commissioner in May and is now the subject of a $25 million class-action approval request.
• Also read: Accused by privacy commissioner, Canada Post promises ‘transparency’
“I had no idea that I had given them permission to sell my data to other companies,” said Christian Hamelin, a Montreal resident.
Like anyone with a mailing address, Mr. Hamelin is part of the appeal filed earlier this month by law firm Perrier Avocats.
This is the Canada Post Smartmail marketing program it is aimed at.
“For example, you will receive an MBNA credit card offer addressed to you. “The opening rate of letters is much higher than when we address “the occupier,” explains lawyer Francis Thibault-Ménard, who is leading the case.
In short, Canada Post assumes that it has the consent of Quebecers and Canadians to sell their information.
If you do not wish to do this, you must remove yourself from Canada Post’s name and address database.
“And even if it does, what guarantee do I have that my data will still not be sold?” asks Christian Hameln.
Without consent
In addition to your address and name, Canada Post offers businesses other information, such as your purchase history. To find out, she relies on the packages she delivered to your home.
“Canada Post has the largest geolocation database in the country,” the Crown corporation boasts on the Marketing Smartpost website.
“Purchasing habits, areas of interest, stages or lifestyles” are among the information offered.
But Perrier’s lawyers argue that the law is clear: Section 5 of the Personal Information Protection Act requires federal agencies to obtain an individual’s authorization to indirectly collect information about them.
Big bucks
“Direct marketing,” or smartmail marketing, brought in $954 million in revenue for Canada Post in 2022. In 2021 it was $922 million.
“We can estimate that almost $250 to $300 million was collected in Quebec in 2022,” the lawyers state in their lawsuit.
Canada Post has been in the red since 2017. In the most recent quarter, which ended in August, losses rose 59% to $254 million.
“The creation of commercial address lists is a common operational practice of national postal administrations around the world,” Canada Post appealed to the privacy commissioner’s office last May.
She cited the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Sweden, Finland, Spain and the United States as examples.
“There is no indication that these services monetize personal information in the form of address lists without first obtaining consent, as is the case with Canada Post Corporation,” the commissioner’s office said.
Anyone who would like To for the appeal can do so here.
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