10 Questions to Ask Your Tech Vendor About Your Data

You've most likely heard about the recent news in the industry calling to question the safety of your personal contacts, sphere, leads or other data that belongs to your real estate business. The security and integrity of your personal sphere and its corresponding data in many ways is the core of your business and repeat business. Many tech platforms expect you to freely hand over your private sphere data in order to use their solutions. And there lies the question: How safe is your data when you hand it over?

In a recent article, we talked about the importance of understanding who actually owns your real estate data—you or the vendor you've hired to aggregate your data for you. And, how to spot a vendor (or other real estate entity) who might be taking advantage of your data, and information gained from your data, for their own benefit.

To further this conversation, let's look at 10 questions you should ask your tech vendor about your data:

1. When I import my sphere, will my contact be shared with anyone else, or kept private for only my use?
2. If I import my sphere, and start to gather other data about my sphere, will that other data be shared in any way?
3. Will my broker or the corporate office be accessing the data I import, or the insights I gain from the data I import?
4. Is any of my data being analyzed or processed for other uses?
5. Will any third party companies have access to my data?
6. What is the process of exporting my data if I end services? Is there a cost involved to release my data?
7. Will you retain any of my data after I end services?
8. Will you be monetizing my data in any way?
9. Where can I see a copy of your privacy policy?
10. Will my data be backed up? Have you had any past issues with data security?

These ten questions just scratch the surface of the due diligence agents and brokers need to do when considering implementing a new technology. At the end of the day, it's about finding a technology that powers your business, gives you the insightful analytics you need to make smart decisions, and is straightforward about your data being yours.

To view the original article, visit the Inside Real Estate blog.