Groupon changes privacy policy, merchants have free reign - VentureBeat

Deals giant, Groupon, e-mailed its users Saturday to announce changes to its Privacy Statement. The changes are aimed to bring more transparency to Groupon, as well as make the language more accessible to the general public.

Notable changes include the redefinition of “personal information” collected by Groupon. Since the inception of “Now! Deals”, the company is calling out geo-targeted data in the statement. This is information to be used to, “offer you real-time deals nearby”. Safe enough. But what is alarming is a statement found in the “When and Why Groupon Discloses Personal Information” section. It reads:

“We encourage Groupon Merchants and business partners to adopt and post privacy policies. However, the use of your Personal Information by such parties is governed by the privacy policies of such parties and is not subject to our control.”

This means anything listed under “Personal Information” in the privacy statement can be shared with parties that do not adhere to any of the privacy assurances you just read in Groupon’s statement.

Whoops.

Also stated is the deal site’s ability to access and collect information from third party websites to enhance their offerings to you. If you use Facebook Connect with Groupon, you’ve automatically given access to your profile information for use allowable under Facebook’s and Groupon’s terms of service.

The creep factor is probably not what Groupon needs after hitting some scrutiny post filing its initial public offering.

Still, the internet is an unavoidably transparent place today (although Anonymous seems to be doing well for itself). Tracking is huge for marketing, and we are only scratching the surface, at the tip of the iceberg, etc. Make sure you read and are current with privacy policies, especially when they are changed to make it easier for you to understand.

Read Groupon’s summarized version of changes made here.

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Tags: Anonymous, privacy policy

Companies: Facebook, Groupon

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British rain masks impact of rule changes

Sebastien Buemi's Toro Rosso sends up a wall of spray as the Swiss driver negotiates the wet track at Silverstone.F1 drivers unsure of likely effects of rule changes after wet weather hampers practiceRed Bull's Mark Webber, who won British GP in 2010, set fastest time of day in opening sessionFerrari's Felipe Massa quickest in afternoon, three seconds slower than Webber

(CNN) -- Two rain-soaked practice sessions for Sunday's British Grand Prix have left Formula One teams guessing what effect recent rule changes will have on this year's world championship battle.

Motorsport's ruling body, the FIA, has introduced rules banning the use of off-throttle blown diffusers, a technique used by drivers to increase downforce and therefore increase the speed of the car.

But the impact of the law changes was hard to gauge on Friday as drivers wrestled with a wet Silverstone track.

Red Bull's Mark Webber, who won the corresponding race in 2010, setting the fastest time of the day during the opening session.

Ferrari's Felipe Massa was quickest in the afternoon, more than three seconds slower than the Australian's earlier best.

Passing judgment: Hamilton must stay aggressive

Webber's teammate and the current leader of the drivers' standings, Sebastian Vettel, struggled to ascertain the impact of the new restrictions, with conditions frequently changing at the newly-renovated English circuit.

"The circuit was changing a lot today," world champion Vettel told Formula One's official web site after being 13th fastest and then 18th.

"So it was hard to find out too much and understand the effect of the changes introduced this weekend, but we will learn more tomorrow."

Sunday's race will represent a home grand prix for McLaren and their British driver Jenson Button, who is 77 points behind Vettel in the drivers' championship and has never finished higher than fourth at the Northamptonshire circuit.

Vettel takes the quiet road to glory

The 2009 world champion was disappointed to miss out on a chance to assess his car's performance under the new regulations ahead of Saturday's qualifying sessions.

"Today was a bit of a frustrating day for me," said the 31-year-old, who was 15th in the morning and then fifth. "We thought we'd get some good running under our belts this afternoon, but the rain meant that didn't happen, and we didn't really get a chance to evaluate everything.

"Hopefully, it's not going to rain for the rest of the weekend, so we should be able to get a better read on how the new interpretations of the regulations will affect us from tomorrow.

"We don't really know if our new rear wing is an improvement over the older version. It has a different downforce level, but I'm still not sure what we're going to run for the rest of the weekend."

F1 championship standings

Massa's teammate Fernando Alonso has triumphed once before at Silverstone, in 2006 while he was a two-time world champion at Renault, and was runner-up the year before and then again in 2007 in his only season at McLaren.

"It's always nice to come to Silverstone, an historic track for Formula One and for Ferrari, which took its first championship race win here 60 years ago," the Spaniard said.

"I like the new paddock, the only strange thing is the final part of the pit lane, which is lower than the track -- which means the spectators cannot see the pit stops from the grandstands.

"The rain definitely did not help on a day that was meant to allow us mainly to test the new aerodynamic components we have here. Only at the end of the first session did I risk trying a set of slicks to see if the conditions were acceptable, but the track was still too wet."

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