Groupon justifies why it wants to track customers constantly

(CBS) - Some jumped for joy at the thought of deals site Groupon offering location-based deals, while others freaked out saying their privacy is not being honored.

"In response to a congressional inquiry about its privacy policies, Groupon this week provided more details about how it collects and stores its users' personal data, particularly as it relates to location-based data and opt-in versus opt-out," reports PC Magazine.

Groupon general counsel David Schellhase told Congress in a letter that the company is developing technology to track customers' location whether they have their Groupon app on their phones open or not. The reason? Schellhase says customers are requesting such a service.

"Groupon currently does not access location data when the Groupon mobile application is not running. However, our customers are asking for services that require this functionality," Schellhase said in the August 10 note. "A customer may wish to have a 'push' notification appear in her email around the noon hour to alert her that a lunch special is being offered at a nearby restaurant."

Essentially, if a user wants to find the most relevant deal at the right time, he or she would have to give up their location information - whether or not their Groupon mobile app is running. Hmmm - here's a thought: users, if you really want relevant deals at opportune times, then why not just leave your Groupon app running and search accordingly? Sure it's more work, but wouldn't you rather skip the privacy intrusion?

"Groupon and rivals including LivingSocial are offering more instant deals that require location information," reports Reuters. "This is a potentially lucrative new part of the daily deal sector, but it has increased concern about privacy."

If Groupon gets their way, customers would have to "explicitly consent" to reveal their location info.