Commissioner’s Findings - PIPEDA Report of Findings #2011-011: Public opinion research firm must better inform survey respondents about their personal information use; refrain from collecting full birth dates

A complainant alleged that a market research firm unnecessarily collected her full date of birth and did not adequately inform her that survey responses would be added to her member profile. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) found that collecting the full date of birth was not necessary and recommended collecting only the month and year. The OPC also found that the firm failed to adequately inform participants that their survey responses would be linked to their profiles. While the firm agreed to clarify consent language, it refused to stop collecting or using the day of birth, leading the OPC to find the complaint well-founded but partially unresolved.

• Necessity of collecting full date of birth for market research demographics
• Necessity of confirming full date of birth in profiling surveys
• Adequacy of notice and consent regarding the linking of survey responses to member profiles