3. Zillow’s Policies and Terms

📆 Monday, October 20, 2025

I need to learn more about Zillow’s new policies and terms. I start by reading the document named in the email notice, Follow Up Boss Privacy Notice Addendum.

I find numerous cross-references from that document to other documents, within and outside Zillow, some with hyperlinks, some without. It quickly becomes overwhelming. I need to figure out what I am up against.

• How many words are in each document?
• How often do they reference a different document or a different section in the same document?
• How many are hyperlinked and how many am I expected to hunt down?
• Are there any additional documents applicable to our situation?

These documents are fully sourced in their respective chapters.

“Documents” includes statutes, rules, and regulations.

Follow Up Boss Privacy Notice Addendum — Chapter 3.1

• Words 1,526
• Cross-references to the same document 4
• Cross-references to different documents 16
• Hyperlinked 7
• Text only 13
• Total documents cross-referenced 13

Follow Up Boss Terms of Service — Chapter 3.2

• Words 7,068
• Cross-references to the same document 9
• Cross-references to different documents 46
• Hyperlinked 15
• Text only 40
• Total documents cross-referenced 34

Zillow Terms of Use — Chapter 3.3

• Words 7,891
• Cross-references to the same document 8
• Cross-references to different documents 72
• Hyperlinked 31
• Text only 49
• Total documents cross-referenced 55

Zillow Group Website Privacy Notice — Chapter 3.4

• Words 8,668
• Cross-references to the same document 27
• Cross-references to different documents 16
• Hyperlinked 22
• Text only 21
• Total documents cross-referenced 15

Zillow Home Loans — Chapter 3.5

• Words 4,940
• Cross-references to the same document 6
• Cross-references to different documents 11
• Hyperlinked 3
• Text only 14
• Total documents cross-referenced 10

Total Across Five Documents

• Words 30,093
• Cross-references to the same document 54
• Cross-references to different documents 161
• Hyperlinked 78
• Text only (I am expected to go on the hunt) 137
• Total documents cross-referenced 116

I list these cross-references in full in the Zillow Policies and Terms Cross-Reference supplement.

Source: 🛜 Zillow Policies and Terms Cross-Reference

Incomprehensible

Tangled cross-references, circular definitions, and vague wording are ubiquitous in Zillow’s sprawling policies and terms. They make the documents incomprehensible and effectively encrypted.

Tech 101 — Encryption

What is “encryption”?

Cloudflare, a leader in internet security, gives a straightforward definition of encryption.

Encryption is a way to conceal information by altering it so that it appears to be random data.

... the process of converting human-readable plaintext to incomprehensible text.

How does encryption work?

Paraphrased and formatted for clarity.

Imagine Alice sends the message “Hello” to Bob, but she replaces each letter in her message with the letter that comes two places later in the alphabet.

Encryption

Instead of “Hello,” her message now reads “Jgnnq” (H+2=J, e+2=g, etc.). The substitution rule is the encryption “algorithm,” and the [+2] shift is the encryption “key.”

Plaintext “Hello” Encryption Algorithm [+2] Ciphertext “Jgnnq.”

Decryption

Fortunately, Bob possesses the key [+2] and knows how to decrypt her message by reversing the algorithm [–2]. He recreates the true message (J–2=H, g–2=e, etc.) “Hello.”

Ciphertext “Jgnnq” Decryption Algorithm [–2] Plaintext “Hello.”

Advanced Algorithms

Alice used a simple encryption algorithm to encode her message to Bob. Modern, advanced encryption algorithms scramble messages into incomprehensible data.

Plaintext “Hello” Advanced Encryption + Key Ciphertext “SNifgNi+uk0=.”

Without possessing the precise decryption key, the ciphertext is incomprehensible to the reader.

Source: 🛜 Cloudflare — What is Encryption

Zillow Has Plaintext

The existence of ciphertext proves a plaintext version exists.

Plaintext “Hello” Advanced Encryption + Key Ciphertext “SNifgNi+uk0=.”

The Zillow Group Legal Department must possess the original plaintext. Its attorneys had to have written it in a comprehensible way. From that, it creates the ciphertext.

This can be done in the form of Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) software. CLMs are designed to automatically map, link, and harmonize hundreds of cross-references into a single, comprehensible plaintext resource.

The Zillow Group Legal Department has plaintext. The consumer gets ciphertext.

I decipher some of it in Chapters 3.1–3.5, coming right up .

Chapter 3.1: Follow Up Boss Privacy Notice Addendum

Chapter 2: Zillow Group Acquires Follow Up Boss