Canadian privacy & access decisions

A member of a not-for-profit association complained that the association required a second piece of identification, in addition to his membership card, to obtain member discounts. The complainant believed his membership card should be sufficient and that collecting further personal information was unwarranted. The association explained that it had legal agreements with vendors requiring it to sell discounted products only to current members. Due to some members loaning their cards to non-members, which caused legal and revenue issues, the association implemented the supplementary identification requirement to confirm identity and prevent misuse. The association also noted that members could choose their secondary identification and that this information was not recorded. The complainant was satisfied with this explanation, and the complaint was settled.

• Whether requiring supplementary identification for member discounts was an unwarranted collection of personal information
• Whether the membership card alone was sufficient identification

An individual complained about a retail chain's practice of printing personal information on receipts and collecting excessive information for returns. The complainant was concerned that the printing of name, credit card number, and expiry date on receipts, and the recording of driver's license and credit card information for refunds, constituted unnecessary collection of personal information. During the investigation, the company updated its point-of-sale equipment to mask personal information on receipts. For returns, the company committed to continuing to collect name, address, and telephone number, but would no longer record identification information, only asking to see it. Credit card information would only be requested if a credit card was used for the original purchase. The company also committed to training its employees on these new procedures. Both the complainant and the OPC were satisfied with these changes.

• Whether printing customer's name, credit card number, and expiry date on receipts constituted unnecessary collection of personal information under PIPEDA
• Whether requiring and recording a driver's license and credit card for returns constituted unnecessary collection of personal information under PIPEDA