PIPEDA Findings #2022-002: Biron Health Group has ceased sending promotional emails to travellers arriving in Canada who undergo COVID-19 testing

The complainant alleged that Biron Health Group (Biron) sent him promotional emails without his consent after he underwent mandatory COVID-19 testing upon arrival at Montreal Trudeau Airport. He provided his email solely for test results. Biron initially believed it had implicit consent due to an established business relationship. The OPC found that Biron could not reasonably assume implicit consent, as travellers had no choice but to use Biron for mandatory testing and would not expect their health information to be used for marketing. Biron ceased the practice and deleted affected email addresses from its marketing database. The complaint was settled during the investigation.