I answered two Quora posts on this question several years ago, and it has become my most read blog. I updated this post on January 17, 2021 to ensure that it complied with current policies and practices at Zoominfo.
As Zoominfo data collection is opt-out versus opt-in, executives are sometimes concerned about what is being collected and how they can opt-out.
ZoomInfo collects data about U.S. and international businesses and businesspeople. Information is gathered via
- Web crawling for firmographic and biographic data
- Email plug-ins that collect signature information such as name, title, company, direct dial, mobile phone, and email
- An in-house research team
This information is then available to its customers, who use it primarily for sales, marketing, and executive recruitment. Customer use cases include prospecting lists for B2B email and telemarketing campaigns, data hygiene (i.e., confirming you are still at a company and that your contact information is accurate), and call prep before telemarketing or recruitment calls.
Here is an example of how they provide additional information about you to LinkedIn users via their ReachOut Chrome plug-in:
The ZoomInfo ReachOut Chrome connector provides just-in-time company and executive intelligence from corporate websites and LinkedIn. Users can immediately view company firmographics or contact details and then send them to a CRM or Sales Engagement Platform. Zoominfo is about to formally launch their Engage SEP, which will allow users to set up flows (cadences) of calls, emails, and social engagement steps.
ZoomInfo does not collect any consumer or credit information. Thus, they have no lifestyle data, political affiliations, donations, income estimates, age, family details, credit histories, personal emails, or housing data. They focus strictly on your professional persona.
The one exception to consumer data collection is mobile phone numbers, which straddle the line between consumer and business information. However, Zoominfo only collects and publishes mobile phone numbers that are used for business purposes, such as those placed on signature blocks or posted on professional event sites.
ZoomInfo’s privacy rules and how to opt-out of their database can be found on their website.
Other blog posts about Zoominfo:
- All Zoominfo tagged articles
- Their June 2020 IPO
- The November 2020 Everstring Acquistion
- The October 2020 Clickagy Acquisition and subsequent launch of Streaming Intent
- Zoominfo Data Quality