Bell’s customer-info tracking can’t be treated like Google’s: PIAC

BCE Inc. should not compare itself to companies like Google Inc., Facebook Inc. or LinkedIn Corp. when it comes to tracking and collecting customer information for advertising purposes, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) said. PIAC, along with the Consumers’ Association of Canada, made the argument in a filing to the CRTC Thursday, in response to a submission by Bell, which had argued earlier this month that its collection of customer data doesn’t violate the Telecommunications Act. The replies were made in response to a challenge filed by PIAC and the consumers group in January against Bell’s practice of tracking customers’ information and habits for the purpose of targeted advertising, which was announced last fall. Not only are companies like Google, Facebook and LinkedIn “outside of the Telecommunications Act,” PIAC said in its filing Thursday, “they are outside the provision of telecommunications services and do not have access to the very sensitive, very detailed information that Bell has.” “We trust that the Commission will appreciate the many distinctions between Google, Facebook, LinkedIn and Apple , one the one hand, and Bell on the other, and reject the comparisons outright.” Bell had argued that Google and Facebook’s platforms in Canada are “at least triple the size” of Bell’s targeted-advertising platform, which currently has five million users, and that these companies have access to more information about Canadians than it does. PIAC responded that as a Canadian telecom and broadcasting company, Bell operates under the Telecommunications Act and Broadcasting Act, and, as such, has obligations under Canadian law that don’t apply to “American-based online service and consumer electronics companies.” “It is irrelevant for the purposes of assessing Bell’s compliance with the Acts whether or not Bell’s marketing program may be less invasive than these other non-telecommunications or broadcasting providers,” it said. PIAC also said alternatives to Facebook, Google, Apple and LinkedIn exist, while there is limited competition for wireless services in Canada. It added that “telecommunications services of far greater fundamental importance to Canadians than professional/social networking, and in fact provide the means to access those services.” Telecommunication service providers are responsible for ensuring the reliability of communications networks, PIAC said, “thus requiring more concern about the invasiveness of their services for subscribers as reflected in the Act.” PIAC also took issue with Bell’s structuring of the program to include customers automatically and give them the option to opt out. It asked the CRTC that, if it finds that Bell can continue with its program, to make it so that customers would have to opt in to participate. In its submission, Bell had said the information of those customers who opt out will not be used as part of the targeted advertising program, though it will still be collected by the company. Customers who opt out will still see advertising, but it will not be based on the data collected, Bell said. In its response, PIAC called Bell’s statement that it does not collect more information as part of the program than it did before the program a “startling admission,” and added that it is “deeply concerned about both the vast amount of information” that Bell has collected on customers and “how that information is stored and retained.” “Like other carriers, Bell uses customer information internally for billing purposes and for planning and managing networks and services,” Bell spokeswoman Jacqueline Michelis said in an email earlier this week. Bell declined a request for comment on PIAC's submission Friday. Following PIAC’s reply, the CRTC could take a number of actions, such as issuing a decision on the case, putting out a notice for public consultation or holding public hearings, PIAC lawyer Geoffrey White told the Wire Report in January. — With reporting by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca and editing by Derek Abma at dabma@thewirereport.ca

Bell’s customer-info tracking can’t be treated like Google’s: PIAC

Broadcast | March 14, 2014

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Bell’s customer-info tracking can’t be treated like Google’s: PIAC

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