Stress and headaches: this is the reward many Giant Tiger customers have for making a transaction on the low-cost retailer’s website, a situation that clearly illustrates the risk of consenting to the sharing of certain personal information, sometimes without even know it.
• Read also: Giant Tiger customer inundated with scam calls since data breach
Concern has gripped “Tiger” customers since their personal information was compromised by a data leak. Several have also said to Newspaper that they have been overwhelmed by fraudulent calls and emails since the incident.
“My email inbox is overflowing, it’s hell,” said Longueuil resident Marie-Ève Carrier on the phone. Another reader says she has received 131 spam emails since the start of the week alone.
“I’m afraid of that,” confides Rémi Lalancette, a customer met at the entrance to the Charlesbourg branch in the fog of Thursday morning. “Then I’m not a member, and I never will be!” he adds, specifying that he does not go on the internet either, as a precaution.
Rémi Lalancette will continue to shop at Tigre Géant despite the leak of personal information, but he is determined to never register as a “VIP” member.
“Our information is everywhere, we no longer know who has access to it,” adds Nicole Simard, admitting to having registered for the “VIP TG” program of Giant Tiger without having first read the confidentiality policy of the company. “It’s long and complicated, and if you’re not a member, you don’t get a discount,” she explains.
Vigilance
Although complicated, reading these contracts is instructive to say the least. In the case of Giant Tiger, “VIP” members accept that a lot of personal information, including payment information, is collected by the company, and that third parties, not all of whom are identified, may have access to it. .
For cybersecurity expert Sébastien Gambs, providing access to certain data in exchange for the possibility of benefiting from certain discounts or being able to participate in competitions is not a fair exchange.
“What we get out of it is really minimal compared to what can be valued by the companies,” he explains in an interview.
“Then when we accept the conditions, it’s quite vague, but we are told that it can be shared with third parties. There are significant risks [d’atteinte] to privacy,” emphasizes Mr. Gambs.
No need to register to subscribe
Another fact to note is that it is not even necessary to register for the program or even make an online transaction to consent to the sharing of certain information with Giant Tiger. A simple visit to the website is enough:
“If you do not agree to the terms of this privacy policy, please do not share your personal information with us or visit any of our websites,” it says in the third paragraph of their privacy policy.
Excerpts from the Giant Tiger privacy policy
“The personal information we collect may include, but is not limited to, your name, physical address, telephone number, email address, purchase details, payment information, language preferences, store and shopping, your date of birth or age group, the composition of your household and your gender.
“Giant Tiger stores provide space and work with other organizations to provide specific services […]. These organizations may collect your personal information (for example, your name, address, telephone number, email address, and purchasing information) when you purchase their products or in order to provide services to you. The information they collect is subject to their own privacy policies.”
“When you visit our websites, we or our service providers may place certain information on your computer in the form of a “cookie” or similar file. Cookies allow us and our service providers to recognize your use of or return to our website and how you use it, for example, to tailor our website or promotions accordingly. of your interests and preferences or activate a pop-up customer survey functionality. In some cases, we allow these service providers to collect information from our website using cookies and other similar technologies for their own business purposes.
Here are the remedies in the event of a leak of personal information
Even if you signed a confidentiality policy by joining a loyalty program in a business, you are not without recourse against the company in the event of a leak of personal information.
In this unfortunate situation, it is possible to file a complaint with the Commission for Access to Information “so that it initiates an investigation into the leak of information or more broadly into the practices of a company in matters of information. personal,” explains lawyer Marc-Alexandre Hudon of the Langlois law firm, in an email to Newspaper.
Photo provided by the Langlois law firm
“A citizen can also try to obtain financial compensation by contacting the company directly or by filing a civil action in court. The citizen must then demonstrate fault on the part of the company,” he continues.
Prevention rather than cure
But before getting to that point, it may be a good idea to take certain precautions, and not turn a blind eye when accepting the conditions linked to membership in certain programs.
“In all circumstances, citizens should read the confidentiality policies of the companies with which they interact to ensure that they are comfortable with the use that companies wish to make of their personal information,” emphasizes Mr. Hudon. .
“This is particularly true with the advent of technologies that can be very intrusive into the private lives of citizens, such as certain applications using artificial intelligence.”
Can we get reimbursed in the event of fraud?
If after the leak of personal information, amounts are taken from your credit card, it is important to notify your financial institution.
“When a fraud situation is reported to us, our teams analyze whether they can proceed with a reimbursement,” explains Jean-Benoit Turcotti, spokesperson at Desjardins.
This will not be automatic, but if the financial institution is able to determine that you were not the originator of a transaction, there will be a refund “in the majority of cases,” adds Mr. Turcotti.