groupon.com
- The documents do not say whether your data trains AI.
- Your data is used for personalized ads, including by third-party ad companies.
- Data is shared with partners and affiliates; you can opt out.
- The documents do not say who can read your content.
Groupon collects a lot of data for ads, may share it for value, and you give up court and .
Agent Trust Hub uses AI and may make mistakes. Review reports and confirm their contents before relying on them.
Collected
They collect account details, purchases, browsing, device IDs, and sometimes precise location.
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Privacy policy
“Internet and network activity information: such as information about your browsing behavior, search history, and interactions with websites and advertisements, including data from cookies, pixel tags, and web beacons.”
Training
They use your data to run the site, send offers, and show interest-based ads, including by location.
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Privacy policy
“Provide you with interest-based ads, push notifications, communications, and offers for products and services from us and our business partners, including based on your precise geolocation;”
Sharing
Vendors, merchants, ad networks, and others may get your data; some sharing is for valuable consideration.
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Privacy policy
“We may disclose certain personal information in exchange for services, insights, or other valuable consideration.”
Kept
They keep data while your account is open and after you close it for business, fraud, and legal reasons.
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Privacy policy
“If you close your account, we will retain your personal data for a period where it is necessary to continue operating our business effectively, to maintain a record of your transactions for financial reporting purposes or fraud prevention purposes until these purposes no longer exist, and to retain as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our agreements.”
Controls
You can ask to see, copy, or delete data, and use their Do Not Sell or Share tool.
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Privacy policy
“You have the right to opt-out of certain disclosures of your personal information for valuable consideration. You can exercise this right through our “ Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information” tool.”
Fine print
Not court, and they can close your account without notice.
No exact line could be verified.
Expand “Read the exact line” to see the source alongside the explanation.
What you can turn off
The controls and opt-outs their own documents describe, and where they say to find them.
Use Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
Groupon Data Privacy Center, as described in the privacy notice
Ask them to delete your personal information
Groupon Data Privacy Center or privacy@groupon.com
Turn off precise location for the app
Your device settings, for example Location services for the Groupon app in iOS privacy settings
Unsubscribe from commercial emails
Instructions in commercial emails, or log into your account and adjust email preferences
If a switch is not where they say, the deletion request above still applies.
Line by line
The lines that matter most, worst first.
They can shut your account and you can lose unused credits and similar value with no warning.
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Terms of service
“If your account is cancelled, you may forfeit any pending, current, or future account credits (e.g., Groupon Bucks), and any other forms of unredeemed value in your account without notice.”
For example, if they cancel your account, leftover Groupon Bucks may disappear.
If your posts or breaking the rules cause a legal fight, you may have to pay their legal costs.
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Terms of service
“You agree to , and Groupon, its subsidiaries and affiliates, and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents from and against all claims and expenses, including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees, arising out of, related to, or in connection with any of the following: (a) any User Content submitted or posted by you, in connection with the Site, or any use of the Site in violation of these Terms of Use;”
For example, if someone sues over a review you posted, you might have to cover Groupon’s lawyer bills.
They may share some of your data in deals that count as getting something of value in return.
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Privacy policy
“We may disclose certain personal information in exchange for services, insights, or other valuable consideration.”
For example, an ad partner might get identifiers and browsing data so Groupon gets targeting help.
Ad networks can get your IDs, purchases, location, browsing, and guesses about what you like.
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Privacy policy
“Online advertising networks and advertisers that supply advertisements on Groupon’s website: identifiers, commercial information, location information, internet and network activity information, inferences regarding preferences or characteristics”
For example, after you look at spa deals, ads for similar offers may follow you on other sites.
If you post reviews or other content, they get a lasting right to use, change, and even sell that content.
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Terms of service
“by contributing User Content or other information on or through the Site, you grant Groupon a , , , , fully paid-up, non-exclusive, transferrable, worldwide right and license to use, reproduce, create derivative works from, publish, edit, translate, distribute, perform, display, transmit, offer for sale, and sell the User Content”
For example, a restaurant review you write could be reused in ads even after you leave.
They collect general location from your IP, and exact GPS if you allow it on your phone.
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Privacy policy
“Location information: such as information related to your state/province, city, or neighborhood, and, if you agree, more specific location information that is provided through the GPS functionality on mobile devices used to access the Service.”
For example, turning on location in the app can let them send nearby deals and ads.
You can ask them to delete your personal information, but the law lets them keep some of it.
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Privacy policy
“You have the right to request that Groupon delete your personal information, subject to certain exceptions allowed under applicable law.”
For example, they may still keep purchase records after you ask to delete your account.
You must say you are 18 or older to make an account and buy. They rely on you telling the truth.
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Privacy policy
“By using Groupon, you represent that you are at least eighteen years old and understand that you must be at least eighteen years old in order to create an account and purchase the goods or services advertised through the Service.”
For example, a 16-year-old could still sign up if they claim they are 18.
They say they use encryption and other safeguards, especially for payment details.
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Privacy policy
“Groupon has implemented an information security program that contains administrative, technical, and physical controls that are designed to reasonably safeguard personal information. For example, we use industry-standard encryption technology to secure financial account information.”
For example, they say card numbers are encrypted when stored or sent.
For big privacy-policy changes, they say they will email you or post a notice before the change starts.
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Privacy policy
“If we make any material changes, we will notify you by email (sent to the email address specified in your account) or by means of notice on the Service prior to the change becoming effective.”
For example, if they start a new sharing practice, they say you should get notice first.
Words to know
Legal words from the lines above, in plain English.
- cookies
- Small files a website saves on your device so it can recognise you and remember what you did. For example, a cookie keeps you logged in and can also tell an ad company which sites you visited.
- tracking pixels
- Tiny invisible images or bits of code in a page, app or email that report back when and where you opened it. For example, a pixel in a marketing email tells the sender the moment you read it.
- targeted advertising
- Ads chosen for you based on what you have done across other apps and websites, not just this one. For example, you look at shoes in one app and see shoe ads in a totally different app the next day.
- precise geolocation
- Your exact position, usually from GPS, often accurate to within a few metres. For example, an app can tell not just your city but which building you are in right now.
- personal data
- Any information that is about you or can be linked to you, from your name to your phone's ID. For example, your email, your IP address and the list of apps on your phone are all personal data.
- retention
- How long a company keeps your data before deleting it. For example, a policy might keep your messages for 30 days after you delete them, or for as long as it likes.
- opt out
- Something is on by default and stays on until you find the setting and turn it off. For example, your chats may be used for training unless you go into settings and switch it off.
- sell or share
- Under California law, selling means passing your data to others for money or other value; sharing means passing it on for targeted ads. For example, letting an ad network use your browsing history in return for ad space counts as a sale.
- indemnify
- You promise to pay the company's legal costs and losses if your use of the service gets it sued. For example, if you post a song you do not own and the label sues the app, you owe the app's lawyer bills.
- affiliates
- Other companies owned by or connected to the same parent company. For example, if you use one app, its sister apps under the same owner may also get your data.
- profiling
- Building a picture of who you are, what you like and what you might do next from your data. For example, an app may guess your income, health or politics from what you watch and tap.
- royalty-free
- The company can use your content without ever paying you for it. For example, your photo can appear in the app's ads and you get nothing.
How we got here · grade F · score 34/100 · 15 of 15 policy answers backed by a verified quote · 4 not stated
What does the app collect beyond what it needs to work?
They collect more than account and purchase details, including browsing and search history, device IDs, inferences, and precise GPS if you allow it.
Does it record your voice, face or body, and what happens to that?
Not stated in the documents.
Are your chats and uploads used to train AI models, and is that off by default?
Not stated in the documents.
Can employees or contractors read your conversations, and when?
Not stated in the documents.
Are you profiled or tracked for advertising?
They serve interest-based ads and share identifiers, location, browsing, and inferences with advertising networks.
Do they sell or share your data, and can you opt out?
They may disclose some personal information for valuable consideration and offer a Do Not Sell or Share tool.
What rights do they take over what you type and what the AI makes?
You keep ownership of posts, but you give them a lasting, worldwide license they can sublicense and even sell.
How long do they keep your data after you delete it, and can you delete it in the app?
You can request deletion by email or their privacy center. After you close an account they still keep data as needed for business, fraud, and legal reasons.
Does it build a lasting memory or profile of you, and can you see, edit or turn it off?
They build inferences about your preferences and interests. The policy does not describe a memory switch you can turn off.
Do they commit to basic security, and have they leaked data?
They describe encryption and other administrative, technical, and physical safeguards. They do not describe an independent audit in these pages.
Is there a real age gate, and are teens protected?
You must be 18 to create an account and buy. They rely on you stating your age; the site is not directed at children under 16.
Will they tell you when the rules change, and is the policy specific?
The privacy notice is dated and says they will email you or post notice before material changes take effect. The terms say posting on the terms page plus continued use is enough.
Can they close your account without warning, and can you get your data out first?
They can deny service or cancel an account at any time for any reason. You may lose credits and other unused value without notice.
If something goes wrong, who pays?
The site is offered as is, their payout is capped at what you paid for that item, and you may have to cover their legal costs in some cases.
Do subscriptions renew on their own, and can you get a refund?
Not stated in the documents.
The privacy policy is 3,979 words at a college graduate level (Flesch reading ease 34.3); the terms are 8,390 words at a college graduate level.
