Privacy Commissioner Decision Provides Guidance For Targeted Online Marketing

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) recently issued its Report of Findings regarding Home Depot's handling of customer information. The OPC found that the retailer failed to obtain meaningful consent when it disclosed non-sensitive information of customers who selected to receive receipts by email during instore check-out to Meta (Facebook's parent company) for online marketing purposes. While the information was non-sensitive, the OPC still concluded that opt-in consent was required because customers would not have expected information from their transaction to be shared with Meta under the circumstances.

What you need to know

• The OPC investigated a complaint that Home Depot disclosed customers' contact and transaction information to Meta (Facebook's parent company) for marketing purposes without consent. When a customer chose to be emailed an e-receipt, Home Depot shared high-level data about the transaction with Meta for both Home Depot's