Federal (Canada) Privacy Decisions

A complainant was concerned that a hotel chain linked her IP address to her phone number after she received a promotional phone call. The hotel chain clarified that it does not engage in promotional calls and that the call was a fraudulent telemarketing scam by an unrelated party. The complainant suggested the hotel warn its customers about such scams, which the hotel did, leading to the matter being resolved.

• Unauthorized collection of personal information
• Misrepresentation by a third party
• Complainant's concern about IP address linkage to phone number

A tenant complained about five video surveillance cameras installed in common areas of their office building by another tenant. The complainant was particularly concerned about two cameras that monitored activity near his office door and the elevators, viewing it as an invasion of privacy. Following the OPC's involvement, the cameras of most concern were relocated inside the other tenant's offices, resolving the complainant's privacy concerns.

• Appropriateness of video surveillance in common areas
• Collection of personal information in shared spaces
• Minimum collection principle for video surveillance