Big Brother Zillow is Watching You

George Orwell’s famous book "1984" came out 35 years before the dystopian world in which the author imagined a government that is watching you – always watching you. Now, more than 35 years after Orwell’s imaginary future, Zillow has made it a reality with people doing nothing more devious than searching for a home. 

Looking for a home through Zillow opens you up to a whole bunch of potentially shady characters who would love nothing more than to get a hold of you via your data. Here’s how it happens. 

You are Zillow’s product

Despite its public image, Zillow is not a real estate company; it’s a data company. That means you’re never Zillow’s client. You are the product they sell to third parties. When you search for a home on Zillow, it collects a wide range of information about you, including your phone number, email address, whether you contact an agent through them, your IP address, the type of device you’re using, your precise location and potentially a lot more, depending on which of its services you use. 

Then they sell that information to third parties and add the money to their huge stacks of cash.

The company doesn’t list in its privacy policy to whom exactly your data is being sold, but entities are lined up at the door to buy your data so they can target you with advertisements and other information that often has absolutely nothing to do with buying or selling a home. 

Even when it is staying in its supposed lane of real estate, Zillow is selling their data about you to a huge number of Realtors who will bombard you for months after your home search with calls, emails and texts, all vying for your attention because of your one innocent search. Do these people have good intentions? In many cases, sure. They want to help you find a home. But if a hundred of them are calling in the next week? It can get kind of annoying. 

The Allen Brake Team Difference

The Allen Brake Team will never sell your data to anyone. Period. Those who search our website for homes or who visit allenbrake.com/homevalue to see how much their home is worth are our clients, not our products. We develop a lifelong relationship with our clients and value them as human beings, not as data. Anything you share with us does only one thing: It allow us to create your personal Calm & Confident Home Sales Experience for whenever the time is right for you to buy or sell. 

Protect Your Info

The home buying experience is different from other things you might do online. You are required to submit a bunch of really personal and private information about yourself – things most everyone doesn’t want shared with just anyone. The best way to protect yourself and your information from falling into unwanted hands is to skip past the data companies like Zillow and Realtor.com that masquerade as real estate companies. If you’re in the market to buy or sell – or even if you’re just looking – a local real estate team’s website is a safer place to go. 

Visit allenbrake.com today to check out the current homes for sale in the St. Louis region, and when it’s time for you to get into the market, email us at info@allenbrake.com or call us at (314) 375-3030.

alllenbrake.com

(314) 375-3030

info@allenbrake.com