Google +1 and privacy

Summary

No information (pertaining to your Facebook content) is being shared from you to GroupOn. Information is being shared from your friends via a Facebook Plugin to you.

GroupOn is using an iFrame that contains a plugin from Facebook called FacePile. So, GroupOn does not have your information. As described later on in "What information is being shared with groupon.com?" and real estate. It is showing you and you alone what other friends are doing in relation to this site. These friends have connected to GroupOn's Facebook application via the Facebook Connect plugin.

This information was posted on Facebook's Blog earlier this year with some merges and summaries made to fit your case.

What information is being shared with groupon.com?

None of your information—your name or profile information, what you like, who your friends are, what they have liked, what they recommend—is shared with the sites you visit with a plugin. Because they have given Facebook this "real estate" on their sites [At a technical level, social plugins work when external websites put an iframe from Facebook.com on their site], they do not receive or interact with the information that is contained or transmitted there. Similarly, no personal information about your actions is provided to advertisers on Facebook.com or on the other site.

While these buttons and boxes appear on other websites, the content populating them comes directly from Facebook. The plugins were designed so that the website you are visiting receives none of this information. These plugins should be seen as an extension of Facebook.

Is this sharing of information something I can disable in facebook?

You should consider the likes and recommendations you choose to make to be public information, much like when you comment or write a review on any website today or connect with a public Facebook Page.

Depending on the connection you made, you can remove a connection completely either by going to the "Info" tab of your profile and editing your "Likes and Interests," or by returning to the web page where you liked something and unliking it.

Likes and Recommendations made on other sites become publicly available information, similar to a public comment on a website. Only click the Like or Recommend buttons if you want to share your likes and recommendations publicly.

In my Facebook Privacy Settings, "Enable instant personalization on partner websites." is unchecked which I thought prevented sites like Groupon from getting my Facebook information. What am I missing?

Only an exclusive set of partners—Microsoft Docs.com, Pandora and Yelp offer personalized experiences as soon as you visit those services. These partners have been given access to public information on Facebook—such as names, friend lists and interests and likes—to personalize your experience when you're logged into Facebook and visit their sites.

When you first visit any of these three partner sites while logged into Facebook, you'll see a blue bar appear at the top of the site letting you know that your experience is being personalized. You can learn more about it, remove the personalized experience or click "x" to remove the bar.

For the full run down visit Facebook Blog : Answers to Your Questions on Personalized Web Tools

Check (and keep checking) the privacy settings on your account.

On this page: http://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=privacy

Make sure that you only allow friends to see your data.

On this page: http://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=privacy&section=apps

There's a "Public search" option - make sure that's set to disallow.

There's a option for "Information accessible through your friends" make sure that you clear all the check boxes on that dialog.

There's an "Instant personalisation" page - not available for all users as yet - but when it does become available make sure you clear that option too.

On this page: http://www.facebook.com/editaccount.php?ads

There are options for Facebook ads to use your data - clear both options.

You have to keep checking because Facebook regularly change the options and the defaults are to be more open than you would like.

Ultimately you are joining a site whose premise is the sharing of information. If you're not happy about sharing something - don't post it to the site, either directly or as a link. If you're not happy about sharing anything - then don't sign up!