Rosa Marchitelli reports:
A B.C. man decided to Go Public after discovering Canada’s second-biggest bank can access and collect information on all of its customers’ online activities, even those that aren’t banking-related.
Colin Laughlan is one of thousands of Canadians who had his Visa cards switched from CIBC to TD in 2014 after the Aeroplan rewards program changed banks.
“When I saw this — I really had to read it two or three times to make myself believe I was reading what I was reading,” he said.
He points to two lines in the 66-page Visa cardholder agreement that allows TD to collect details about anything — and everything — customers do online.
Under the privacy section of the cardholder agreement:
“COLLECTING AND USING YOUR INFORMATION — At the time you request to begin a relationship with us and during the course of our relationship, we may collect information including:
- Details about your browsing activity on your browser or mobile device.
- Your preferences and activities.
Read more on CBC.ca to learn what happened next when the consumer brought it to the bank’s attention and they promised to delete it from their terms – but didn’t.
And this, kids, is why we need to read the fine print and privacy policies.