We protect your personal information and data
1. Protecting You
The Groupon website www.groupon.co.uk is operated by MyCityDeal Limited (t/a Groupon UK). MyCityDeal Limited ("Groupon UK", "we," "us," "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s office and our registration number is Z2232703. We will only use the information that we collect about you lawfully (in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and other applicable data protection laws in the UK).
Please note that use of the Website by you and any services offered by Groupon UK (such as our customer support phone lines) is subject to this privacy policy (the "Policy") and to the Website’s terms and conditions of use ("Terms and Conditions"). Where this Policy uses a word starting with a capital letter, that term will be defined in the Terms and Conditions or elsewhere in this Policy.
Our Policy explains what information we collect, how we use and/or share this information, and how such information is maintained. By using this Website or any other services of Groupoon UK, you signify your acceptance of this Policy. If you do not agree to the terms of this Policy, in whole or part, you should not use this Website or services of Groupon UK. Please note that this Policy applies with respect to the information collected on the Website and through any other contact we have with you.
Our Policy ensures that any information you provide us remains private and secure. To reassure you, below we provide details of the information you provide to us, and how it will and, more importantly, will not be used. We will never collect sensitive information about you without your explicit consent. The information we hold will be accurate and up to date. You can check the information that we hold about you by contacting us (and there may be an administrative fee payable for this). If you find any inaccuracies we will delete or correct it promptly.
2. Personally Identifiable Information - that we collect
We collect personally identifiable information ("PII") that is volunteered during registration or in response to specific information requests explicitly presented to you.
When using the Website, we may also collect your IP (Internet Protocol) address to help diagnose problems with our server, and to administer the Website. An IP address is a number that is assigned to your computer when you use the Internet. Your IP address is also used to help identify you during a particular session and to gather broad demographic data.
We may ask for your e-mail address during your use of the Website. Also, to purchase Vouchers or to deal with Vouchers in some way (such as to arrange delivery of products or services through a third party) you may be requested to provide any or all of the following PII: first and last name, postal address, e-mail address, date of birth, telephone number and details of a payment mechanism, such as credit card details.
3. Use and Sharing of PII
All PII is retained in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and other applicable data protection laws in the UK.
We use PII:
(i) to provide you with information about Groupon UK;
(ii) to provide you with the services on the Website and otherwise;
(iii) to facilitate services which are directly related to services on the Website;
(iv) to facilitate your redemption of vouchers with the suppliers of products and services for which those vouchers can be exchanged (i.e. “Merchants”);
(v) to measure, record and report on Merchant performance;
(vi) to market ourselves and the Merchants we feature on the Website to you, including personalised marketing for the services on the Website and otherwise based on variables such as your stated or anticipated interests, gender or location;
(vii) to analyse the effectiveness of, and to improve, our marketing campaigns; and
(viii) to enhance the information we have about you to better align our personalised marketing with your interests.
We make available PII for these purposes within Groupon UK, to other Groupon group companies within the European Economic Area (although please see what we say below about organisations outside the European Economic Area, which includes Groupon group companies outside the European Economic Area) and to Merchants (but in that last case only for two reasons: to facilitate the redemption of vouchers with the Merchants and to provide anonymous feedback based on customer survey results, including, at our discretion, any comments made about the Merchant’s performance).
We may also pass your PII to our agents and subcontractors to help us with any of our uses of your data set out in this Policy. For example, we may use third parties to provide us with marketing or customer service assistance or send it to a credit card provider to process a payment.
We also always reserve the right to disclose PII in order to:
(a) comply with applicable laws;
(b) respond to governmental enquiries (or enquiries from a legal, governmental or quasi-governmental or local authority agency or Internet protection agency of any type);
(c) comply with a valid legal process or procedure; or
(d) protect our rights or property, this Website, and/or other users of this Website.
However, other than as set out above, it is our policy not to sell or pass any PII to any other organisations unless we are required to do so for fraud prevention and detection.
Importantly, other than to other Groupon group companies in the European Economic Area, we will never sell or rent your PII to anyone else for their marketing purposes without your consent.
Please note that as part of any PII sharing which we list above in this Section 3, we may send your information internationally for the purposes listed above (including to countries outside the European Economic Area). Some places outside of the EEA may not have adequate data protection laws at all or may offer differing levels of protection of personal information which are not as high as in the UK. By submitting PII to us, you acknowledge that provided we have used your data in the ways set out in this Policy, we cannot be held responsible for any use of your data by third parties who receive and process your data.
Example 1:
You may buy a Voucher from us to obtain goods from a Merchant. We may pass your PII (such as name and address details) to that Merchant to allow the Merchant to deliver the goods to you. Depending on the Merchant’s own privacy policy, the Merchant may pass those details on to a delivery service (e.g. Parcelforce, the Royal Mail, UPS, Groupon Shop Ltd or another delivery service) so the goods can be delivered to you. Sometimes, for speed and simplicity, the Merchant may ask us to pass these details directly to that third party delivery service on the Merchant’s behalf.
Example 2:
You may buy a Voucher from us to obtain services from a Merchant. We may pass your PII (such as name and address details) to that Merchant to allow scheduling of your appointment or a booking. Depending on the Merchant’s own privacy policy, the Merchant may pass those details on to a scheduling service operated by a third party (such as the Scheduler service operated by Groupon Inc.) so your appointment or booking can be scheduled. Sometimes, for speed and simplicity, the Merchant may ask us to pass these details directly to that third party delivery service on the Merchant’s behalf.
Example 3:
We may pass your PII to Groupon Shop Ltd or Groupon Travel Limited (two companies in the Groupon group of companies in the European Economic Area) so they can email you about the services they offer. You will always be able to opt out of receiving these marketing emails (see below).
4. Emails
Please note that we may email you for the following purposes:
• as part of the Service. For example, we send (or may send) emails to you in some of the following example circumstances:- after registration, notifying you of your account details;
- as reminder emails about the services we offer (particularly if you have not used them yet or not used them for a while);
- to send you information or Vouchers which you have asked for;
• as a personalised newsletter;
• as promotional emails;
• as an opportunity to provide feedback about a particular Merchant’s service; and
• to offer related services to you from the Groupon group of companies
However, in terms of any marketing or promotional emails we may send, we will always give you the chance to opt-out (or unsubscribe) from them in the future.
5. Security and retention
The PII which we hold will be held securely within our systems in accordance with our internal security policy and the law. We hold data until 3 years after it is last accessed or used by us.
Regarding information transmitted between the Website and/or users, while we take reasonable precautions to safeguard this information, we may be unable to prevent unauthorised access to such information by third parties or inadvertent disclosure of such information during transit. Users acknowledge this risk when communicating with the Website.
6. Transfer in Certain Circumstances
If there is a sale, merger, consolidation, change in control, transfer of substantial assets, reorganisation or liquidation of Groupon UK then, in our sole discretion, we may transfer, sell or assign information collected on and through this Website (including, without limitation, PII and other information), to one or more relevant third parties.
7. Customer Service
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at support@groupon.co.uk.
8. Changes to this Policy
Please note that this Policy forms part of the Terms & Conditions for use of this Website and Groupon UK’s services and forms part of the Agreement between you and us. We may, from time to time, amend this Policy, in whole or part, in our sole discretion. Any changes to this Policy will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised policy on the Website. (Depending on the nature of the change, we may announce the change: (a) on the home page of the Website, (b) by email, if we have your email address, or (c) in some other way.) In any event, by continuing to use the Website following any changes, you will be deemed to have agreed to such changes. If you do not agree with the terms of this Policy, as it may be amended from time to time, in whole or part, you must terminate your use of the Website and any services offered by Groupon UK.
