Effective sales and marketing efforts hinge on high-quality, compliant data. Through strategic partnerships with the right vendors, your go-to-market teams can secure new business opportunities and foster unwavering customer trust.

Before you invest in a data provider, it’s important to vet their processes and ensure they’re operating in a compliant way. Here are six questions you should be able to answer about your prospective or current data vendors:

1. Which Independent Certifications Does the Vendor Hold?

Certifications are a great indicator of a vendor’s compliance posture. Certifications show that a vendor understands important industry standards, is willing to be measured against them, and is comfortable providing transparency in their data protection practices.

ZoomInfo’s privacy posture and practices have been independently assessed by multiple independent third parties. Our third-party privacy attestations and reports include:

ISO 27701 Certification
TRUSTe GDPR Practices Validation
TRUSTe CCPA Practices Validation
TRUSTe Enterprise Privacy & Data Governance Certification
Lucid Privacy Assessment
Email Industries Deliverability Audit (for our privacy notice program)

Copies of these reports are available on our TrustPage.

Ask:

Which external standards do you measure yourself against?
Which third-party assessments have been conducted on your privacy law compliance?
What documentation or reports can you share about those assessments?

2. Is the Vendor Up-Front About How They Collect Data?

A data vendor should never shy away from explaining how they collect data — especially when their customers rely on those data sourcing methods to both drive revenue and maintain compliance with privacy laws.

ZoomInfo is proud of our data engine, and we are confident it aligns with global compliance standards. We make our practices known to the public on our website, and these practices have been reviewed and assessed by third parties.

Ask:

How do you know that a vendor’s data has been collected in compliance with privacy laws and regulations?
Are you confident their data collection methods won’t put you at regulatory risk?

3. How Does the Vendor Meet the Transparency Requirements of Laws Like GDPR?

Establishing transparency at scale can be difficult. It requires a team of dedicated professionals, mature processes, and solid technology.

Since 2016, ZoomInfo has maintained a robust direct notice program. We send a data collection notice to all addressable contacts in our database, which meets GDPR Article 14 requirements and supports compliance with notice requirements in the US and elsewhere.

This notice tells the individual what ZoomInfo is, which data we process, the fact that we sell the data to our customers, and what types of customers we have. Most importantly, it provides easy instructions for how they can manage their own data.

Ask:

Does the vendor send notices as required by the GDPR? What about the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) and other requirements around the world?
What does the notice say? How is the vendor confident the notice is getting through?

4. Does the Vendor Have a Dedicated Privacy Rights Management team?

Honoring privacy rights requests is a critical part of any privacy program. When you choose a vendor, you should have full confidence that they are honoring the rights of the people whose data you are collecting.

ZoomInfo applies its privacy standards across our database. Regardless of where an individual is located globally, we honor their right to opt out, request access to, delete, or update their data through our automated privacy center, our privacy@zoominfo.com email, and toll-free number 833-901-0859. All requests are managed by a dedicated team of specialists on our Privacy Fulfillment Team.

Ask:

Does the vendor allow all individuals to access, correct, or delete their information, or only those individuals in locations where honoring such requests is legally required?
Has the vendor dedicated resources to manage these requests?

5. How Does the Vendor Meet the Data Accuracy Standards of Privacy Law?

Many privacy laws include an obligation to ensure data is accurate. Of course, without quality data, your go-to-market teams will struggle to identify buyers and grow those meaningful relationships.

ZoomInfo doesn’t rely on any single data source as the source of truth. The records you see, and even each singular data point, may be obtained and reconfirmed through multiple sources. Our data engine is constantly checking and rechecking information to ensure accuracy throughout its lifespan.

Ask:

How does the vendor assure its data accuracy?

6. What Compliance Tools Are Available to Customers?

Your data partner should make tools available to help you manage your compliance obligations.

ZoomInfo offers a suite of features that help our customers on their compliance journey. This includes mapping against several do-not-call registries around the globe, as well as detailed admin-level controls to ensure customers are using the platform compliantly.

Ask:

Does the vendor let you screen phone numbers against national do-not-call registries?
What controls and tools does the vendor offer to assist in compliance efforts?

Our continued investment in privacy and compliance is what sets us apart from other vendors. From privacy to operations, technology to public policy, our 20-plus person team covers each corner of the business to ensure all efforts are aligned with the same standards. With ZoomInfo, you can trust that you’re partnering with a company that believes in empowering data subjects and maintaining transparency.

We know compliance is more than a set of obligations or roadblocks — compliance can elevate your go-to-market motion, win you more deals, and delight your customers along the way.

If, after asking your data vendor these six questions, you’re still uneasy about their practices, it may be time to look for a different partner.

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Assessing Compliance Risk: 6 Key Questions to Ask Your Data Vendor

Shawn Thornhill