Mobile location information and tracking are the big changes to Groupon’s privacy statement and terms of use. Customers who make use of Groupon’s mobile apps will now agree to allow sharing through their device. According to Groupon, “Groupon may collect geo-location information from the device and use it for marketing deals to you (and for other purposes listed in the \u201cHow Groupon Uses Personal Information\u201d section of the Updated Privacy Statement).\u201d<\/p>\n
It doesn’t end there though, according to the notification email, the company has broadened the definition of personal information, which now includes your interests and habits. In addition to this, Groupon may also share this information with news partners such as Expedia.<\/p>\n
The full email appears below:<\/em><\/p>\n We wanted to let you know that we\u2019ve updated both our Privacy Statement and our Terms of Use. These new terms, which affect all Groupon users, accommodate our new products and services that allow us to offer you more relevant deals.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t feel like wading through long legal documents, here\u2019s a summary of the notable changes, in plain English:<\/p>\n We\u2019ve clarified that Groupon Now! and our other mobile apps may collect geo-location data. This lets us present you offers that are close by. See Sections 1 and 5 of the Privacy Statement.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve broadened the definition of \u201cpersonal information\u201d to include your interests and habits, and provided additional details about how we collect and use your information. We\u2019ve done this so that we can better understand what types of offers you\u2019ll find valuable. See Section 1 of the Privacy Statement.<\/p>\n You may know that we\u2019ve started working with partners to offer Groupon users new deal categories \u2014 for example, travel deals with Expedia. Our new privacy statement explains that we may share your personal information with these partners if you subscribe to special communications or buy deals in these new deal categories. See Section 4 of the Privacy Statement.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve updated our Terms of Use to help you understand the expiration policies for different vouchers, including Groupon NOW! vouchers. This explains, for example, that if you don\u2019t use a Groupon NOW! voucher within 30 days we\u2019ll refund the purchase amount. See Section 7 of the Terms of Use.<\/p>\n We also clarified our expectations to ensure that our customers and visitors use the services on our website in a way that keeps the experience good for everyone. For example, we\u2019ve prohibited abusive practices like opening multiple accounts, submitting false information and other practices that we think detract from everyone\u2019s experience with us. See Section 5 of the Terms of Us<\/p><\/blockquote>\n