ARCHIVED - Telecom Commission Letter addressed to various parties interested in the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Consumers’ Association of Canada’s applications regarding Bell’s use of customer information, CRTC file #8665-P8-201400762 – Requests for Information

Ottawa, 20 October 2014

File Number: 8665-P8-201400762

BY EMAIL

To: Distribution List

Subject: Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Consumers’ Association of Canada’s applications regarding Bell’s use of customer information, CRTC file #8665-P8-201400762 – Requests for Information

Dear Sirs/Madam:

On 27 January 2014, the Commission received an application from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre and the Consumers’ Association of Canada, collectively PIAC/CAC, in respect of data collection and use by BCE Inc., Bell Canada, Bell Mobility Inc., and Bell Aliant Regional Communications, Limited Partnership, and their affiliates (collectively, Bell).

In a letter dated 19 June 2014, Bell provided responses to a Commission staff issued request for information associated with the above-noted Part 1 application.

After analyzing the responses, Commission staff has determined there is a need for further information in order to properly assess the application.

Accordingly, Commission staff requests that Bell respond to the attached requests for information associated with the above-noted Part 1 application.

In recognition of the current regulatory workload, Bell will have 45 days to respond to these interrogatories.  Therefore, a response is to be filed with the Commission by 4 December 2014.

All parties may file written comments with the Commission on these responses, serving copies on all other parties by 19 December 2014.

Bell may file reply comments with the Commission, serving copies on all other parties, by 29 December 2014.

Procedural information 

This letter and all subsequent correspondence form part of a public record.  As set out in Broadcasting and Telecom Information Bulletin 2010-961, Procedures for filing confidential information and requesting its disclosure in Commission proceedings, persons may designate certain information as confidential.  A person claiming confidentiality with respect to information submitted must provide an abridged version of the document involved, accompanied by a detailed rationale to explain why the disclosure of the information is not in the public interest.

All submissions are to be made in accordance with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Rules of Practice and Procedure, SOR/2010-277.

If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact Antica Corner at
819-997-1334 or by email at antica.corner@crtc.gc.ca.

Yours sincerely,

[Original signed]

Nanao Kachi
Director, Social and Consumer Policy
Consumer Affairs and Strategic Policy

c.c.: John Lawford, PIAC jlawford@piac.ca
Bruce Cran, CAC bcranbiz@telus.net
Antica Corner, CRTC antica.corner@crtc.gc.ca

Distribution List

Mr. Philippe Gauvin
Senior Counsel - Regulatory Law & Policy
Bell Canada
Floor 19, 160 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario  K2P 2C4
bell.regulatory@bell.ca

Ms. Suzanne Morin
General Counsel – Regulatory & Privacy Chief
Bell Aliant Regional Communications L.P.
Floor 19, 160 Elgin Street
Ottawa, Ontario  K2P 2C4 
regulatory@bell.aliant.ca

Geoffrey White
Counsel for PIAC
Public Interest Advocacy Centre
1204 - 1 Nicholas Street
Ottawa, Ontario  K1N 7B7
gwhite@piac.ca

Requests for Information for Bell

The question below deals with deep packet inspection (DPI).

1. In paragraph 60 of its Answer, Bell submitted that its Relevant Ads Program (RAP) does not rely on any information collected as part of an Internet Traffic Management Practice (ITMP).  Is Bell using DPI or other intrusive technologies, which may or may not be used as part of ITMPs, in order to track the web usage of Bell mobile or Internet subscribers or to inspect the user content of communications for advertising and marketing purposes?   If yes,
   1. what information is Bell collecting;
      
      
   2. has Bell informed customers, and if so, how; and
      
      
   3. has Bell obtained subscriber consent for the collection, use, and disclosure of this information?
   The questions below deal with subscribers getting informed about the use of their information by Bell. 
   
   
2. Can a Bell subscriber obtain the following:
   1. A list of all of the subscriber information collected by Bell as well as the sources of the information?  If so, how? 
      
      
   2. A list of all of the subscriber information that is used in RAP or for other advertising and marketing purpose as well as the sources of the information?  If so, how?
3. How does Bell inform new subscribers that their usage and account information may be used for RAP and for the creation of business and marketing reports?  Are new subscribers informed that they can opt-out of having their information used in RAP and if yes, how?
   
   
4. The privacy information available on Bell’s website indicates that initially the program will apply to Bell Mobility subscribers but that Bell looks forward to expanding it to TV and Internet subscribers in the future.  Was the Bell October 2013 notice to subscribers sent to all Bell subscribers or to only Bell mobility subscribers?  If and when the program is rolled out to included Bell TV or Internet subscribers, will an appropriate notice be sent to subscribers? 
   
   The questions below deal with subscribers opting-out of RAP.
   
   
5. How many subscribers have opted-out of RAP?
   
   
6. Some of the large wireless carriers in the U.S. have also implemented relevant ad programs.  However, some of these carriers have made the program opt-in and have provided incentives to encourage customers to opt-in.  Why did Bell choose to make RAP opt-out rather than opt-in?
   
   In Bell’s 10 July 2014 response to staff’s request for information, Bell provided a table listing all the characteristics and the sources of the characteristics that can be used by a customer of RAP to create an advertising profile.  The questions below deal with information provided in that table.
   
   
7. For the “Interest” characteristic, please provide a complete list of all of the categories and subcategories.
   
   
8. The list of characteristics includes “Commercial Carrier” which is sourced from subscriber account information.  The table indicates that the potential values for this characteristic include MTS, Sasktel, and Nortel.  In Paragraph 32 of its Answer, Bell indicated that no data is collected from users roaming on the Bell Mobility wireless network.  Please explain the meaning of this characteristic.
   
   
9. The list of characteristics includes “User Segment” which may be one of Any, Consumer, or Business.  In Paragraph 31 of its Answer, Bell indicated that the program currently did not apply to Bell Mobility’s corporate customers.  Please confirm whether or not Bell’s Relevant Ad Program (RAP) applies to business customers. 
   
   
10. The list of characteristics includes “Browsed Domain” and “Application.”  Bell noted that these fields are sourced from network information.  Please provide a diagram that illustrates the flow of IP traffic starting from the mobile customer’s fully qualified domain name (FQDN) request and ending with the loading of the page on the customer’s mobile device. 
    1. Please specify which point in this flow diagram where and how the characteristic “Browsed Domain” information is extracted for RAP.
       
       
    2. Please specify which point in this flow diagram where and how the characteristic “Application” information is extracted for RAP.
    The questions below deal with the interests characteristic which is derived from the URLs visited by a subscriber.
    
    
11. In paragraphs 16 and 30 of its Answer, Bell indicated that nothing new is being collected for the purposes of RAP.  Was Bell deriving interest categories for subscribers from the websites visited by subscribers before the development and implementation of RAP, and if yes, for what purposes?
    
    
12. In paragraphs 34 to 36 of its Answer, Bell indicated that it has implemented filters to remove interest categories related to sensitive personal information under RAP.
    
    
    1. If a subscriber visits a website associated with an interest category that is considered to be sensitive personal information, does Bell save information showing that a customer has visited such a website?  If yes, can an advertising customer of RAP specify such a website in the “Browsed Domain” characteristic used in the creation of advertising profiles? 
       
       
    2. While Bell has indicated that sensitive personal information is not stored in the RAP server, does Bell store such information elsewhere and if yes, for what purposes? 
13. In its Answer, Bell indicated that it does not disclose any personally identifiable information about its subscribers to advertisers and that RAP operates in such a manner that neither Bell nor a third-party can use RAP to associate a particular category of interest with a particular identifiable individual.
    
    When a Bell subscriber is visiting a RAP advertising customer’s website and matches an advertising profile created by the customer, are there safeguards in place to ensure that a RAP advertising customer cannot access directly from a subscriber’s device information that would enable it to uniquely identify a Bell subscriber such as, but not limited to, the specific ID of the subscriber’s device or the subscriber’s name or phone number and then associate the subscriber with the characteristics (including the categories of interest) specified in advertising profile?
    
    The questions below deal with types of subscriber information that were referenced in both the Bell October 2013 notice to subscribers about how Bell uses subscriber information and the privacy information available on Bell’s website but that were not included in the above-mentioned table provided by Bell in its 10 July 2014 response to staff’s request for information.
    
    
14. Is Bell using network information such as calling patterns and TV viewing for RAP or for the creation of business and marketing reports by third parties?  If yes, please indicate how this information is being used.
15. In the table at paragraph 39 of its Answer, Bell included “search keywords” as a type of information used by some companies but did not include it as a type of information used by Bell.  However, both the Bell October 2013 notice and the privacy information available on Bell’s website indicate that the network usage information may include search terms that have been used from a subscriber’s mobile device or Internet access at home.  Please reconcile these statements.  Does Bell access subscriber’s search terms for any purposes (not limited to RAP) and if yes,
    1. how does Bell access this information;
       
       
    2. for what purposes is this information accessed; and
       
       
    3. does Bell make this information available to third parties in any form, including anonymized or aggregated?
    The question below deals with the use of subscriber information in business and marketing reports.
    
    
16. Both the Bell October 2013 notice to subscribers about how Bell uses subscriber information and the privacy information available on Bell’s website indicate that subscriber information may be used for other companies to create limited business and marketing reports and provided an example of such a business and marketing report. 
    1. Provide a detailed description of the content of a typical business report and marketing report.  Identify the purpose of each of type of report, including how they will be used and by whom. 
       
       
    2. Provide a comprehensive list of the subscriber information that is in the creation of these reports and the sources of the information.  
       
       
    3. If a subscriber opts out of RAP, is their data also excluded from the business and marketing reports for third parties?
       
       
    4. At this time, do the reports include only wireless subscriber information?  If not, which other subscribers’ information is used?
       
       
    5. The report example appears to be based the actual location of subscribers (i.e. a report that shows how many mobile users were active along a certain parade route).  In paragraph 38 of its reply, Bell states that, for RAP, it does not rely on location information as may be provided by a GPS-enabled mobile device.  Please reconcile the example provided by Bell with this statement. 

Date modified:

2014-10-23