From Wire Reports

CHICAGO, Ill. – Groupon on Sunday announced changes to its privacy policy, saying it will begin to collect more information about users to share with business partners. It also said it will use geo-locational information to market its online deals.

The changes were announced in an e-mail to an estimated 83 million subscribers.

The company provided extensive detail on the way it collects, stores and shares data on its users. Regulators have called for such disclosure.

Groupon’s social deals service is planning to go public soon. Some analysts estimate an initial public offering could value the company at as much as $30 billion.

The changes could invite greater scrutiny by federal regulators and privacy advocates.

The changes are sweeping and show how the social deals sites and other social networking companies like it plan to use troves of user information to serve up personalized business offerings and advertisements, particularly through location-based services.

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