July 16, 2020
Dear SEBAR Member,
As a reminder, Dotloop will begin sharing your information with Zillow on July 18th unless you opt out. If you have not opted out of the Dotloop / Zillow share yet, here is an interesting point of view from Robert Kozlowski, a Broker in GA:
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I have not seen any discussion about the upcoming Dotloop/Zillow sharing policy that goes into effect July 18th. Does this not concern anyone?
Zillow over the years has made great strides to insert itself into our profession. Recently it has even made moves to become or act as a Brokerage. When they first came out, Agents, Brokers and they themselves, made statements that they were just an "advertising company" Not regulated or influenced by our rules and laws. Next they began by selling our leads back to us on information we GAVE them for free. As time went by, their platform began to evolve into other areas, such as, iBuying, mortgages and continued to tell us they were just an "advertising company" and had no intention on becoming a full Brokerage.
As a friend of mine - Tom Woiwode writes :
"Then they bought DotLoop – a popular Digital signature program and transaction management program. Of course, all along they said they would never 'share" the data in DotLoop – it was secure.
Think about this: If you use DotLoop – your contacts are in there, your contracts are in there, the email address of every person you have ever sent a document for signature is in there. Your offers are in there. Your listing contracts and commission rates are in there. Your sold "Closed" properties are in there. Seller Disclosures, lead based paint… everything. Finally, if used as a transaction platform, they have the Closing Disclosure of the transaction. All of the details of what type of loan the buyer got, the seller proceeds, the title insurance company, the title company, the attorney, and the names and addresses of the Buyer and Seller (mailing). All of that information is there for Zillow to take.
As of July 17
th
, at midnight, if you do not OPT OUT – all of this data will be shared from Dotloop to Zillow – openly, and with your permission. Doing nothing implies permission to share this data openly from DotLoop to Zillow. As of the 18
th
, Zillow will be able to directly market to your buyers, your sellers, even your attorney and title insurance company – and they will have all of the financial data about the transaction – they have found a way to get this information without asking the MLS – now they are taking it from those that use DotLoop.
Most people (agents and brokers) have no clue this is happening, nor the ripple effects this will have on our industry. This is a moment that is equivalent to when we "Gave" Zillow our listings in 2008 – when Zillow was just another website of the many, and our actions at the time, unbeknownst to us at the time, changed our industry. This is that moment once again. Fool me once – Shame on You. Fool me Twice – Shame on ME!"
What are you
r
thoughts? Shouldn't we have been made more aware of this?
Also, even if you opt-out, or your Brokerage opts-out, your information on specific transactions could STILL BE SHARED. If the buyer, seller or other agent does NOT opt-out, the information in THAT transaction can be shared.
If you opt-out on the 18th, you can. BUT then ONLY the information entered AFTER the opt-out is submitted will be protected. All previous information will have already been shared. It is not only to ZILLOW, but shared with ANY third-party site Dotloop deems appropriate. JUST WOW!
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What you need to do if you want to opt-out.
You must send an email to Dotloop and state the following:
"As per your updated Privacy Policy, I am writing to opt out of Affiliate Sharing"
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If you DO NOT opt out, your data will be accessed by Zillow and other third-party sites, as of the 18
th
of July.
Once opted out, your data will not be shared with Zillow, and you will be able to continue to use DotLoop as you have, but privately.
The following is an excerpt from the new Privacy Policy of DotLoop.
P
articipants should be reviewing the
policy
on an individual basis, and making individual determinations on whether to participate or to opt out of “Affiliate Sharing.”
