Will Zillow Have Access to My Follow Up Boss Data That It Didn't Have Access to Before?
Will Zillow Have Access to My Follow Up Boss Data That It Didn't Have Access to Before?
This is the simple key question, and there should be a simple answer. Will Zillow have access to the data within FUB that it didn’t have before?
The short answer to that question is “yes”.
FACTS
When Zillow first acquired FUB in late 2023, Dan Corkill made a straightforward post in which he answered this question. He stated several things:
This should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: We wouldn’t have agreed to this acquisition if we weren’t confident we could keep your customer data safe and protected.
Can Zillow Group access, use, or “scrape” your customer data?
No. The customer data you enter into Follow Up Boss stays within Follow Up Boss. Zillow Group won’t be able to use it unless you give permission.
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Dan left FUB in July 2025. The new “update” is different, and much more carefully worded. No more declarations of the sanctity of your data. The new terms basically divide your database into two categories:
-Contacts that only exist in your FUB account (“Agent-Only Data”)
-Contacts that also have a relationship with Zillow (this is anyone who has ever used Zillow, Trulia, StreetEasy, Hotpads, etc.). Zillow calls these “Mutual Customers”.
Zillow has stated clearly that contacts which exist ONLY in your FUB account, that Zillow doesn’t know anything about, remain yours. So the question then comes to Mutual Customers: will Zillow have access to Mutual Customer data in FUB that it didn’t have before? Again, to be clear: YES.
The way they do this, in summary, is with wordplay and legalese. Data about Mutual Customers, which exists only in FUB, is no longer “your data”. It belongs to the customer, and is referred to as “their data” (“their data” = “the customers’ data”). Then, Zillow’s access to the customer’s data is no longer controlled by you, or governed by any relationship you have with the customer - it is the customer’s data, and access to it is controlled by Zillow’s agreement with the customer. This is deliberately obfuscated behind an array of separate pages of terms, definitions, references and cross-references, which is hard to read but clearly gives Zillow the right to ALL data in FUB for what they call Mutual Customers.
For further explanation of this, we go to Zillow’s Follow Up Boss Privacy Notice Addendum. I’ll go through the main points that lead us to the understanding of the key question:
“Customer Data” means any data or information about a Customer or Authorized User provided, submitted, posted, or transmitted by or on behalf of a Customer or its Authorized Users in connection with the Services, or collected through the Services from a Customer or Authorized User, as well as Personal Information of Visitors. For clarity, Customer Data excludes the Services.
Explanation: Customer Data is all data NOT in FUB about a contact.
“End Customer Data” means personal information about your End Customers (e.g., existing clients and prospects), such as your Contact List and the content of your communications (e.g., texts, phone calls, emails) with End Customers.
Explanation: End Customer data is all the customer data that is in FUB. EVERYTHING. All communications, personal information, everything you have every done, said, heard from, notes taken, or otherwise acquired about a customer.
· “Mutual Customer Data” means End Customer Data of a Mutual Customer.
Explanation: EVERYTHING in FUB for a Customer that has EVER had a Zillow (or any of their subsidiaries) account is Mutual Customer Data.
Mutual Customer Data is also subject to the Zillow Privacy Notice and will also be processed as described therein.
Explanation: All the information you have ever put into FUB about a Customer that has ever created an account on any Zillow service is now under the purview of the Zillow Privacy Notice between the Customer and Zillow, which basically says they can do whatever they want.
From the Official FUB Facebook Group, this question was asked: “Will Zillow have access to our plugins like Fello or open to close with the new shared clients, basically everyone.”… and here’s the “answer”:
Hey there Jami! Great question! Your existing integrations will continue to work exactly the same. And one of the biggest strengths of Follow Up Boss has always been that it is the hub. Your source of truth if you will. Instead of your tools operating in separate silos, everything comes together in one place.
So when the right data flows into Follow Up Boss, our AI can actually work on your behalf. It can help improve message accuracy, personalize follow up based on what is happening with each client, and help you stay a step ahead in your communication! (Work smarter not harder)
In the future, this same level of connected intelligence will power richer summaries, more precise actions, and powerful messaging all personalized to the recipient. That's the goal behind the new Terms. Not to change how your integrations work, but to increase the value you get from the data already flowing through them.
Multiple follow-ups were asked, pointing out that the FUB rep didn’t answer the question… and there has been no response. If the answer were “No,” they would say so.
ANALYSIS
Joe Turco, an agent/team leader that I admire greatly, provided this blog post, which I had previously read in my research. In this post, the author states “If someone in your Follow Up Boss CRM also has a Zillow account, Zillow can use that overlapping data.” Her source for that statement is a podcast from some other knowledgeable people. Unfortunately, those people have not read the details of the new TOS. Obviously, the impression Zillow wants people to have is that the non-overlapping data is still private. They have carefully written the TOS to allow people to come to that conclusion.
The summary of the post, however, is that “Zillow exists because agents don’t do the work.” I think that’s a bit much. Zillow has created the best search app and real estate ecosystem, and agents who use it (such as those on this podcast defending it) are obviously finding success. Zillow’s great value to customers, and its value to the agents that partner with it, are not excuses for its dipping into the massive databases created by agents that are not Zillow partners.
A separate post from Joe in another location is also important: This isn’t a “sky is falling” moment it’s a reminder that big data is everywhere and real estate is finally catching up. The wise move is to understand how the system works and focus on how to use it strategically, not fear it. They are showing you have something of value, it’s our job as agents to determine how we can best use that asset to grow our business/consumer intelligence/ability to beat out competitors/predict clients buy/sell patterns.
My question to anyone that’s up in arms, what have you done with your “data”. If the answer is nothing, then in my opinion they should quiet down. Direct and true. If you’re not working your database then what Zillow does with your data is the least of your concerns.
All that said, the fact remains that Zillow wants our data for a reason. They see value in it, and they want to be able to use it however they see fit without us being able to complain about it.
Finally, FUB is supposed to be an advantage for ME. It is supposed to make it easier and more effective for me to do the work of communicating with my past and future customers. It is supposed to help me to succeed. I understand that I have to make the calls. I understand that I have to keep up the communication. I understand that I have to continually provide value.
I do not understand why I should provide Zillow with data that I’ve accumulated about my past and future customers in order to make it easier for their agent partners to compete with me.
There are so many examples I could imagine, but here’s an easy one:
My past client Bob purchased a home with me five years ago. I acquired Bob as a referral from another past client. The transaction went well, and I have stayed in touch since the closing. We have a good relationship. Bob told me that his family is growing, and next summer they want to get out of their starter home into a larger 4-bedroom with a yard. I have noted all of that in FUB.
As it turns out, several years ago, Bob had a HotPads account when he was looking for a rental. This makes him a Mutual Customer. Zillow hasn’t had communication with him, and in fact he opted out of HotPads emails years ago. However, he and his email address are still in the Zillow system. So, Zillow considers him a Mutual Customer. All my notes, transactional data, and the information about his next purchase are now in Zillow’s hands.
It is, to be sure, my job to continue to work with Bob to show my value, earn his business, and get the listing as well as the opportunity to help him find his new home. However, now I’m competing with Zillow. The system that’s supposed to help me succeed in keeping Bob as my client is now feeding all my hard-earned data about him to my competitor.
Why should I pay for the privilege of helping my competition?
PHILOSPHY
We have both explicit and implicit agreements with the people in our database.
The explicit agreements are our Privacy Policies and Terms of Service, etc., as well as state and federal laws that dictate how we can use customer data, how we can contact our customers, and what is legally permitted.
Beyond the explicit agreements are the implicit agreements – things like not spamming people, not being creepy with the information we get about what they’re searching for, and not sharing their information with people they don’t know.
We have an obligation to our past and future customers to treat their data in a way that we can answer questions much, much more directly and openly than Zillow has. As stated at the beginning, the question we all have is a simple one: Will Zillow, after 11/15/2025, have access to data in FUB for our “Mutual Customers” that it didn’t have access to before? If the answer to this question were “no”, Zillow would have answered it already. Instead, they have provided several different pages of updates, Terms of Service, Privacy Policies, and Addendums, none of which has all the information, and all of which must be considered when trying to understand Zillow’s new policy.
Zillow isn’t treating us the way I like to treat my customers. And so the big question that I and all other non-Zillow partner FUB users are facing is: Do we stick with FUB and relinquish part of our advantage to Zillow? Or do we switch, and deal with all the headaches that entails?
I have really liked FUB. It has been a great system and I am not aware of any other option that will be as good. I don’t have any animosity towards Zillow. They provide a great service to customers, and their agent partners have by and large been very successful as a result of their arrangement. However, the new Terms of Service really draw a line in the sand.
I’m disappointed by the changes, and most disappointed by Zillow’s unwillingness to answer a straight question about what they mean.
