VANCOUVER -- Peter McCartney and his partner were surprised, then angered, to receive a promotional offer via text from a restaurant they visited in Vancouver's West End.
The message was sent to a cellphone number that they say is rarely shared, but was given to staff at the restaurant on Davie Street a month ago, as part of provincial health guidelines.
“We sat and wracked our brains. 'How could they have gotten the number?' And the only way we can think of was from contact tracing,” McCartney told CTV News Tuesday.
Restaurants are required to get contact details from dine-in customers so they can be contacted and traced in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak.
But that data is not supposed to be used for other purposes.
“I’m furious,” said McCartney. “We feel a little violated to be honest. You put your name down on a form like that, and expect that it’s going to be used properly and within the law.”
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia has strict guidelines about collecting personal information from customers: “Do not use the collected information for other purposes, such as marketing or analytics,” the rules clearly state.
The private information must also be destroyed after 30 days.
“It’s illegal, number one. But secondly, it undermines the trust that customers will have in your business,” B.C. Privacy Commissioner Michael McEvoy told CTV News. “It’s really unfortunate that certain businesses might operate in this way.”
McCartney understands restaurants are struggling, and didn’t want to reveal the name of the small Indian restaurant, but said he's still angry about getting a message advertising the upcoming event Dine Out Vancouver.
“People need to be able to trust that is happening properly, otherwise they’re going to have reservations about putting their phone number on that contact tracing sheet,” he said.
The privacy commission admitted it has received complaints about other restaurants using personal information inappropriately, and is investigating.
