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What happens after you license your data?

Short answer

Nothing moves until you sign. After that, the license sets what is delivered, identifiers are removed before it goes, and the buyer is bound by limits such as no re-identification and no contacting your customers. Deletion, ongoing feeds, relicensing and payment all follow the signed license, which controls over any summary like this one.

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Delivery: what moves, and what doesn't

The license defines the package: which systems, which years, which kinds of records, for what use and for how long. Anything outside that stays where it is. Until delivery your records sit in your own systems, and delivery needs admin access to the systems in scope.

Before anything reaches the buyer, a de-identification step takes out names, contact details, addresses and account numbers, the way the license specifies. Photos and documents can carry identifiers too, so how they're treated is set license by license, and you approve it before anything moves. HR, financing, screening and health records stay out of scope by default, unless you signed off on including them. Income tax return information is never part of a license.

We don't take custody of your raw records at any point. We run the process and the negotiation on your side, and the license is the document that says what moves, in what form and to whom.

What the buyer agrees to

Every license carries the same headline limits:

  • No re-identification of the people or companies in the records.
  • No contacting your customers or staff because of what the records show.
  • No voice cloning or likeness generation from what the buyer receives.
  • No marketing to the people or businesses in the records.
  • No resale outside the license's scope.

You can add more, such as blocking named competitors or limiting the buyer to a field of use. The limits do legal work as well as practical work. If California's privacy law applies to you, its definition of deidentified data expects the business to bind recipients by contract to the same commitments, including not re-identifying. The signed license, not this page, is what binds a buyer, and your counsel should read it. This is not legal advice.

Deletion and the end of the license

Most licenses run for a set term. What the buyer does when that term ends is something to settle before you sign. Ask the license to say:

  • whether the buyer must stop using and delete the delivered copies when the term ends, or when the license ends early for breach
  • who confirms the deletion, and how
  • whether any use survives, such as keeping evaluation results

Be clear-eyed about one thing: deleting records doesn't unwind training. A model that learned from licensed records during the term generally stays trained. If that matters to you, the term, the field of use and any limit on what the buyer may build from the records are where it gets decided. Raise it on the call.

Ongoing feeds

Some buyers want more than a single delivery. If your company is still operating and can provide an ongoing feed, a license can cover new records after the first delivery. A feed has its own schedule and its own payment terms written into the license.

Each refresh goes through the same removal step before it moves, and the same scope applies. A new system or a new kind of record is a change to the license, not an automatic extension.

Relicensing and your own use

A license gives a buyer rights to use your records. It doesn't transfer ownership, and it doesn't stop you using your own data to run the business.

  • Non-exclusive: you can license the same record to other buyers. Each license is separate, with its own scope, use limits and price.
  • Exclusive: the buyer gets the record to itself within the scope the license names. Exclusivity can be limited by time, field of use or category, so read what you may still do.

Exclusive vs non-exclusive covers how to weigh the two.

How payment works

Payment follows the signed license. When you compare offers, price is one line among several. The others are structure and timing: a single payment or installments, recurring payments for a feed, and what triggers each one, such as signing, acceptance of the delivery or a set number of days after it. Read when the money is due, what triggers it, and what happens if delivery is late or rejected.

We are paid a small commission out of a deal that closes. If nothing closes, you owe nothing.

Follow-up questions

Yes. A license gives the buyer defined rights. It doesn't transfer ownership of your records or stop you using them to run your company. What an exclusive license limits is licensing the same records to other buyers, so read those terms closely.

Deleting records doesn't undo training, and a model trained during the term generally stays trained. If that matters to you, settle it before signing: the term, the field of use and any limits on what the buyer may build. Bring it up on the call.

As the signed license says. The offer you accept states the amount, the schedule and what triggers each payment. We are paid a small commission out of a deal that closes. If nothing closes, you owe nothing.

Sources

This is general information about how data licensing works. It is not legal advice, and we are not your lawyer. Have your own counsel review any license before you sign.

Keep reading on licensing your data.

What happens in a data licensing deal, step by step?

You give a buyer permission to use a defined slice of your records, for a defined purpose and term, and you keep ownership. With us it runs in seven stages: intake, review, market, offers, contract, delivery and paid. You decide at the offers stage, and you owe nothing if no deal closes.

What's the difference between exclusive and non-exclusive data licenses?

An exclusive license gives one buyer your record to themselves for a defined scope and time, and usually pays more. A non-exclusive license pays less per deal but leaves you free to license again. We collect bids both ways so you can compare before you decide.

Should I license or sell my company's data?

For most operating businesses, a license fits better. It lets a buyer use a defined slice of your records for a defined purpose and term while you keep ownership and keep running on your own history. A sale hands the records over, which rarely makes sense while you still need them.

Is it legal to sell company data?

Often yes, for a company's own operating records, when three things line up: the records are yours to license, your customer agreements and privacy notice allow de-identified use, and the people in them can be taken out first. This is general information, not legal advice, and your own counsel should read any license before you sign.