Home Depot Canada found sharing customer personal data with Meta – privacy regulator

(Reuters) – Home Depot Inc’s Canadian arm was found to be sharing details from e-receipts related to in-store purchases with Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc without the knowledge or consent of its customers, according to Canada’s privacy regulator.

An investigation by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) found that by participating in Meta’s offline conversions program Home Depot shared the e-receipts that included encoded email addresses and purchase information.

The regulator added that the home goods chain stopped sharing customer information with Meta in October 2022, which was among the recommendations made by OPC, until the company is able to implement measures to ensure valid consent.

Home Depot and Meta did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

(Reporting by Ananya Mariam Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)