The following is a press release from an attorney firm. My sites generally do not post attorney advertising but there is a news angle to this one that has potential impact for many people. DataBreaches.net emailed Rogers yesterday requesting a comment on the lawsuit, but received no reply.
TORONTO, Oct. 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — On October 26, 2021, a proposed $20 million nation-wide privacy breach class action lawsuit was commenced against Rogers Communications Inc. The claim alleges that Rogers regularly and surreptitiously invades the privacy of its customers to advance its own marketing promotional goals. In particular, it checks the credit information of its customers in order to assess customers’ suitability for marketing additional services to them.
Financial information such as credit scores is highly sensitive and confidential information that can only be accessed by companies for limited purposes – which does not include advancing the companies’ own profits through such things as targeted marketing, absent informed consent from the consumer.
The proposed class action was commenced by Rogers’ customer, David Trueman, who discovered that his credit information was accessed by Rogers no less than three times in a single calendar year. After multiple attempts by Mr. Trueman to obtain answers from Rogers about why it had been pulling his credit information, eventually Rogers explained that the credit information was accessed for “marketing and promotional purposes” and “to evaluate eligibility for other Rogers’ products and services” – despite the fact that Mr. Trueman did not apply for additional services when the credit checks were made. Mr. Trueman asserts that he did not consent to Rogers conducting any credit checks after he originally signed up for its services.
In the claim, Mr. Trueman alleges that Rogers secretly and repeatedly collects its customers’ credit information for its own marketing purposes. He asserts that this is a breach of the customers’ privacy, and contrary to privacy protection legislation across the country.
Mr. Trueman seeks damages and other remedies on behalf of a class of all Rogers customers across Canada whose credit information was similarly accessed by Rogers without their consent.
The law firm of Waddell Phillips PC represents Mr. Trueman. More information is available at www.rogersclassaction.ca.