Marking Photos as Private
Recently we introduced the ability to mark photos and other listing media private to remove them from public view. Now, we’re making it easier to keep media privacy in sync with a listing’s status. Starting on June 18, we’re adding a new privacy setting of “Private While Off-Market.” With this setting, the privacy of photos, videos, and virtual tours will change automatically when the status of the listing changes.
When Will It Change?
This update will be available on June 18, 2020.
Who Does This Benefit?
This change makes it easier for you (the agent) to maintain privacy settings, which ultimately benefits your clients, too. You won’t need to remember to change privacy settings every time a listing goes on or off the market.
What Will Change?
Sometimes an agent or homeowner will want to remove photos and other visual media when a listing is sold or otherwise goes off the market. Currently, a member can remove photos, videos, or virtual tours from public view immediately by setting them to Private. However, if the listing goes back on the market, the member must manually make the media available to the public again.
With this enhancement, a new Mark Private While Off-Market button will be available when editing photos and other listing media. When this new setting is used, the privacy level is set automatically according to the status of the listing. If the listing is in an on-market status, photos and other media are available to the public. If the listing is sold or otherwise goes off-market, photos and other visual media are made private and removed from public view. Off-market statuses are determined by your MLS. (Important Note: Primary photos cannot be made private.)
Photos that have been marked private while off-market will appear on the edit photos page with a dark red outline and the label Private While Off-Market. To make a photo private regardless of listing status, select the photo and click Mark Private. To make a photo public regardless of listing status, select the photo and click Mark Public.
A similar Private While Off-Market button will be available on the Videos page and Virtual Tours page for a listing.
The Private While Off-Market setting is visible only to members with edit access to the listing. When the associated listing is on the market, listing media are displayed just like other public media. When the associated listing is off the market, listing media are displayed with a red Private tag in search results, just like other private media. In addition, private photos are displayed only on the private version of listing reports, and are not available via the customer portal.
Why Are We Making These Changes?
We’ve heard from our MLS customers that photo privacy and copyright issues are important considerations, and that a growing number of agents are removing photos from listings to address concerns. Making photos and other listing media private helps the MLS retain important historical records while also protecting the privacy of homeowners and complying with media licensing agreements.