Federal and provincial privacy watchdogs say the Tim Hortons mobile ordering app violated the law by collecting vast amounts of location information from customers.

In an investigation finding today, privacy commissioners say people who downloaded the app had their movements tracked and recorded every few minutes of the day, even when their app was not open.

The investigation came after a reporter obtained data showing the app on his phone had tracked his location more than 2,700 times in less than five months.

Federal privacy commissioner Daniel Therrien did the investigation jointly with privacy commissioners from British Columbia, Quebec and Alberta.

They found the Tim Hortons app asked for permission to access a mobile device’s geolocation functions, but misled many users to believe information would only be accessed when the app was in use.

However, the app tracked users as long as the device was on, continually gathering their location data.

(The Canadian Press)