Free Tim Hortons Coffee and Donut Now Available from App Privacy Settlement

Last July, Tim Hortons proposed a free hot beverage and one free baked good, as a settlement in the privacy class action lawsuit involving the coffee chain’s mobile app.

Fast forward to today, this free coffee and donut offer has been court approved, according to an email sent out to those involved and received by iPhone in Canada. The value of a free hot beverage and baked good is $8.58 CAD total, and can include the following:

• “Baked Good” means a baked good that has a maximum retail value of $2.39 CAD plus taxes each, such as, by way of example, a croissant, a muffin, a cookie, a bun, a biscuit or a doughnut.
• “Hot Beverage” means a hot beverage that has a maximum retail value of $6.19 CAD plus taxes each, such as, by way of example, a brewed coffee, a hot latte, a hot cappuccino, a hot espresso, a hot cortado, a hot tea or a hot chocolate.

“You are receiving this email in connection with a court approved settlement of a national class action lawsuit involving the Tim Hortons App. If you currently have an Active Tims Rewards Account, two credits (“Offers”) – one Free Hot Beverage and one Free Baked Good – will be issued to this account, and available for you to activate and use, as of February 1, 2023,” explains Tim Hortons.

Canadian residents that used the Tim Hortons mobile app between April 1, 2019 and September 30, 2020, and had their geolocation data collected at least once, received the email and were automatically part of the class action lawsuit.

The Tim Hortons email says it’s no longer possible to opt-out or object to this free coffee and donut offer settlement.

National Post journalist James McLeod first discovered the privacy flaw in a 2020 report, after experiencing first-hand the Tim Hortons app collected location data–even when it wasn’t in use.

Last June, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada concluded in a joint probe by federal and provincial privacy commissioners the Tim Hortons app had indeed illegally tracked user geolocation data, tracking app users in the background.

“People who downloaded the Tim Hortons app had their movements tracked and recorded every few minutes of every day, even when their app was not open, in violation of Canadian privacy laws,” concluded the investigation.

Time to claim your Tim Hortons freebies, right? Just launch the Tim Hortons app and activate the credit in the Offers section. It has to be redeemed within 12 months of its deposit; credits will expire on January 31, 2025, says Tim Hortons.

Let us know what you’re going to get (hot creamy coffee-flavoured sugar water goes great with a crueller) in the comments.