Loblaw gathered too much personal info in gift card offer: privacy commissioner

Canada's privacy commissioner says Loblaw Companies Ltd. initially collected too much personal information from some customers requesting a gift card tied to an alleged bread price-fixing scandal.

READ: Privacy Commissioner launches probe into Loblaw gift card policy

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada conducted a six-month investigation after a consumer complained the grocer was requesting unnecessary information as part of its Loblaw Card Program.

Loblaw offered the $25 gift card as a goodwill gesture after admitting it participated in an alleged industry-wide arrangement to co-ordinate bread price increases.

To receive the gift card customers had to fill out an online form that asked for their name and address. Approximately 10% of customers were told they needed to provide additional information such as a utility bill or a driver's licence in order to receive the $25 gift card.

When the investigation launched in March 2018, Kevin Groh, Loblaw vice-president of corporate affairs, said there were various triggers that might have lead the company to ask for further confirmation, including large numbers of registrations from a single address, multiple requests under a single or similar name, or irregularities like an invalid address or email in a registration.

READ: Loblaw places restrictions on gift card offer after bread price fixing

The commissioner's office said in a statement that Loblaw took steps to limit the information it was collecting during the investigation and it was satisfied with those measures.

Loblaw spokeswoman Catherine Thomas said in a statement that the retailer welcomed the finding that any concerns with the program's privacy and anti-fraud safeguards "were either not well founded or resolved."