Your Privacy

ZipRealty's Privacy Policy

Last updated: 12/17/06

• We do not sell information about you to others.
• We protect the security and confidentiality of information about you.
• We share information outside of our company only when necessary to administer products or services we or our subsidiaries may provide, when we have your permission, when required by law, or as otherwise described in this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy describes how we handle your personal information for our services available through www.ZipRealty.com (the "Site"). By accepting the Privacy Policy and the Terms of Use in registration, you expressly consent to our collection, storage, use and disclosure of your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy. This Privacy Policy is effective upon acceptance for new users and is otherwise effective beginning 30 days after first posted on the Site.

At ZipRealty, we adhere to a philosophy of integrity, trust, and mutual respect among all parties involved with the real estate transaction. We understand that the privacy and security of information that personally identifies you is important to you. Therefore, ZipRealty has created this Privacy Policy in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to ensure the protection of your information that is collected by us on this Site and through off-line communications with you, including telephone conversations and in-person communications.

Please read the following policy to understand how your personal information will be used while you take advantage of the services we offer. This policy may change from time to time as new features are added to the Site and as we incorporate suggestions from our users. We will post an amended Privacy Policy prominently on the Site so that you can always review what information we gather, how we might use that information, and whether we disclose it to anyone. Please check the Site at any time for the most recent version of our Privacy Policy. We may amend this Privacy Policy at any time by posting the amended terms on the Site. All amended terms automatically take effect upon acceptance for new users and otherwise 30 days after they are initially posted on the Site. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

1. What personally identifiable information is collected and how it is used
2. What general information is collected and how it is used
3. With whom personally identifiable information is shared
4. User choices regarding collection and use of information
5. User access and ability to update information
6. Security measures used to protect personally identifiable information.

What personally identifiable information is collected and how it is used.
ZipRealty collects personally identifiable information from you in order to respond to your requests for our products and services. Depending on the services you request, this information may include, but is not limited to, your name, address, ZIP Code, email address, telephone number, a login name, password, whether you plan on buying, selling or both buying and selling property, information about the properties in which you are interested and your home search criteria. If you are seeking to buy or sell a property with another person, we will collect much of the same information about them as well.

You will be asked to provide personally identifiable information at various places in our web site, including, but not limited to, the following:

• Registration — When you register to use our web site, we collect your first and last name, email address, and information on whether you are buying or selling, or both buying and selling. You will also select a Login Name and Password. Your Login Name and Password help ensure that the personally identifiable information you provide to us remains secure. Your Password should never be shared with anyone.
• Search for Homes — In order to help narrow your search for a new home, we collect information from you regarding the type of home you want, including, but not limited to: price range, number of rooms, square footage, and property type.
• Consult a ZipAgent® — If you want to consult with an agent to discuss selling real estate, we collect your first and last name, your email address, your preferred telephone number, your preferred method of contact, and the metropolitan area in which the property you plan on selling is located. In order to better serve you, we may also collect the following, optional information, including the street address, city, state and ZIP Code of the property you plan on selling.
• Make An Offer — If you choose to proceed to this step, you will be engaged in a complete negotiation for the purchase of a new home. You will need to provide information regarding the property you wish to purchase, your telephone number, your offer amount, your down payment amount, when you would like to close, your loan officer's name, your lender's name and telephone number, whether you need to sell a property to complete the purchase and if so, the address of the property you need to sell, the listing broker of the property, the escrow number, the name of the escrow company and the closing date. The information you provide at this stage, after consultation with your Agent, will be incorporated into a purchase agreement to be presented to the seller of the property or their agent.
• Make An Appointment — If you proceed to this step, we will collect information in order to have an Agent contact you to discuss the selling of your home. The information we collect includes your first and last name, email address, telephone number, preferred method of contact, the metropolitan area in which the property you are selling is located, the street address, city, state and ZIP Code of the property you are selling, and various times that would be convenient for you to meet with a Agent.
• Email — Throughout your use of the ZipRealty web site, you will communicate extensively with our Agents and other staff. We will use your email address and all of the information you submit in order to provide you with guidance, suggestions and service in your efforts to sell your existing home or in your search for a new home.
• Contact Us — We collect an email address in order to respond to your questions or suggestions.
• Off-line Discussions and Meetings — If you choose to interact with one of our Agents, we may collect information in the course of helping you buy or sell property. The purchase or sale of real estate is a complex transaction and requires a considerable amount of information.

Please note that our Site is a general audience web site. If you are under the age of 13 you should not register or provide information on this Site. We do not collect personal information from any person we actually know is a child under the age of 13.

We use cookies. Cookies are used to store a session ID for tracking users as they move through the web site after logging on. If a user does not accept cookies, they will not be able to register on our web site or re-log in as a registered user.

With whom personally identifiable information is shared.
We recognize that the information we collect from you may, in itself, or when tied together with other information, identify you as a specific individual. Your account information and personal data is maintained by ZipRealty in order to fulfill our legal and regulatory requirements and to provide you with the information, products and services you have requested. As a general rule, ZipRealty will not disclose your personal information to any third party except with your permission or under special circumstances, as discussed below.

ZipRealty will disclose to interested parties information pertaining to the sale of a house listed in our database. This information will be posted on our web site and in the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) for the purpose of marketing the home to the greatest number of potential buyers.

By requesting information or services from ZipRealty, you give ZipRealty permission to transfer your information, as necessary, to the appropriate parties, such as the title insurer, lender, appraiser, escrow or settlement provider or inspector you select, so that they can fulfill your request and provide you with the services you require. You information may also be transmitted to other parties in a transaction or their agent. Our Agents are employees of ZipRealty. All personally identifiable information you provide to ZipRealty will be made available to your Agent and other ZipRealty employees with a need for the information. Generally, your Agent will coordinate the disclosure of your information to third parties. This will be done in much the same way as a traditional real estate agent shares information with third parties. For example, your Agent may disclose your name and the address of the property you want to purchase to a building inspector when you request our assistance in arranging an inspection of the property. The various lending institutions, title companies and other service providers involved in your real estate transaction may each have their own privacy policies governing how they handle your personally identifiable information. However, ZipRealty accepts no responsibility or liability for third party privacy policies or the actions of any third party with respect to your personally identifiable information.

ZipRealty does conduct research on our users' demographics, interests and behavior based on the information provided by the user and from our server log files. This research is compiled and analyzed on both on aggregated and individual bases . For example, we may review how many users are women, or the average price range of our users. Additionally, we may analyze the behavior of a particular user. ZipRealty may share aggregated data with our business affiliates or, if required by law, any government agency. However, we will not sell or lease personally identifying information to any third party.

If you came to our website through a link on another website ("Third-Party Website"), ZipRealty maybe required, as part of our agreement with that Third-Party Website, to provide them with either aggregated data or some personally identifying information.

ZipRealty may disclose personally identifiable information in certain circumstances when we have reason to believe that disclosing such information is necessary to contact, identify or bring legal action against someone who may be intentionally or unintentionally causing injury to or interference with our rights or property, our users, our employees or anyone else who could be harmed by such activities. We may disclose personally identifiable information when we believe in good faith that the law requires it and for administrative or other purposes that we deem necessary to maintain and improve our products and services. We may disclose personally identifiable information to a multiple listing service which provides us with listing data if, the multiple listing service suspects that a person is involved in breach of security of the data or a violation of our Terms of Use or the multiple listing service's rules. Additionally, we may disclose personally identifiable information in response to a valid subpoena or court order.

Our web site provides links to other web sites. Please be aware that when you click on one of these links, you are going to another web site even though the ZipRealty logo, banner, or tool bar may still be visible. Information you enter on these other web sites is being collected by that site, not ZipRealty. We encourage you to read the privacy statements of these linked sites as their privacy policy may differ from ours.

User choices regarding collection and use of information.
On occasion, we may use your email address to send you communications with information, valuable tips, or services and product information that we believe may be of interest to you. If you do not want to receive such communications from ZipRealty, simply contact us at team@ZipRealty.com or click on the "opt-out" link contained in the email.

You are free to not provide any of the information requested on the ZipRealty web site. However, certain information may be necessary or required by law in order for you to obtain some services provided by ZipRealty. Therefore, if you choose not to provide the requested information, you may not be able to access certain ZipRealty services.

Your ZipRealty account can be deleted or de-activated at any time by contacting team@ZipRealty.com. However, you will not be able to access any of the products and services offered by ZipRealty if you choose to delete your account. Please note that we may be required by law to retain certain personally identifiable or demographic information about you even if you choose to delete your account. For example, some loan programs are governed by state and federal law and require the disclosure and retention of certain information regarding loan applicants. However, we will only retain or use such information as is required by law. Please note that ZipRealty will never share or sell your information without your permission, except as described in this Privacy Policy.

User access and ability to update information.
You may edit your preferences and the information you have provided at any time by sending email to team@ZipRealty.com or mail to ZipRealty, Inc., 2000 Powell Street, Suite 300, Emeryville, CA 94608. You may also visit ZipRealty.com. You will need your Login ID and Password to access your account information online. If you have lost your password, you may request a new one by sending an email to team@ZipRealty.com. You may also contact your Agent to edit the information you provide to ZipRealty.

Security measures used to protect personally identifiable information.
We restrict access to the ZipRealty server and the personal information we store there by using a log-in process. When you enter the area of the web site, which is designed for account holders only, you are required to provide your selected Login Name and Password. Your password should never be shared with anyone. ZipRealty will never ask you for your password in an unsolicited telephone call or email.

Email is an important communication channel for our online customers. Email sent to our Agents, Buyers or Sellers are carefully routed to the intended party. Unfortunately, no email transmission over the Internet is guaranteed secure. While we strive to protect your information, ZipRealty cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us from our website, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your transmission, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our system. Finally, we store all data on our system in a password protected database system, which is protected by our corporate firewall.

If you have any questions regarding this privacy policy, or privacy issues in general, please feel free to contact us.