1. Strosberg Wingfield Sasso LLP and Charney Lawyers PC are class counsel in a certified class action against Bell Mobility arising from the unauthorized use of Bell Mobility and Virgin Mobile Canada customers personal information for Bell Mobility's Relevant Ads Program ('RAP'). The certified class action claims damages for breach of contract, breach of confidence, negligence, intrusion upon seclusion, breach of consumer protection legislation, breach of the Civil Code of Québec and waiver of tort.
2. On November 16, 2013, Bell Mobility commenced the RAP which tracked Bell Mobility and Virgin Mobile customers account and network usage information, including internet sites they visited on Bell Mobility's network, to generate marketing reports to be sold to advertisers. Following Bell Mobility's announcement of the program, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada commenced an investigation after receiving an unprecedented volume of complaints.
3. In the statement of claim, it is alleged that from November 16, 2013 to April 13, 2015, Bell Mobility used the RAP to track, collect and sell Bell Mobility and Virgin Mobile Canada customers sensitive account and internet browsing information to advertisers. The information included web sites accessed from mobile devices and the corresponding customers postal code, gender, age range, credit status and payment patterns.
4. In the statement of claim, it is alleged that customers were not given the option to properly consent to the use of their information for the program and the defendant did not adequately disclose the nature of the information they were using for the RAP.
5. Following Bell Mobility's announcement of the RAP, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada commenced an investigation under the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act in response to an unprecedented volume of privacy complaints from the public.
6. On April 7, 2015, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada released its Report of Findings. In its report, the Commissioner found that Bell Mobility violated the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act by failing to adequately disclose the nature of the information used for the RAP and by not properly seeking customers consent to use their personal information for the RAP.
7. On April 13, 2015, Bell Mobility announced the cancellation of the RAP. While Bell promised to delete all customer profiles created under the program, the class action seeks the appointment of an expert to oversee and confirm the destruction of the personal information.
8. On May 13, 2019, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice certified the action as a class action.
9. The Class and Class Members are defined as: all persons in Canada, who had a Bell Mobility and/or Virgin Mobile Canada consumer (non-corporate) account with data service between November 16, 2013 and April 13, 2015, excluding officers, directors and employees of Bell Mobility.
10. Bell Mobility subsequently discovered that due to a technical issue, approximately 100,000 Class Members who are current prepaid customers were not notified. A revised notice plan to notify this sub-class was developed and on April 28, 2022 the defendant obtained the further order (notice of certification). Please review the further notice of certification and opt-out deadline here in English or French.
11. If you are a Class Member and would like to receive updates on the class action, please provide the information requested on our Communication page.
12. If you fall within the definition of a Class Member, you are automatically included in the class action and do not need to do anything at this time.
13. For more information about the class action, or for instructions on how to opt out of the class action, please visit www.relevantadsclassaction.ca or call the Administrator at 1.866.684.3883.
14. We will continue to update this website as developments occur.
15. If you would like to know more about how a class action works, please click here.