Do they own your data? Gong Privacy Policy Reviewed.
Gong receives a 6/10 enterprise readiness score, marking it as partially ready for large-scale B2B deployments. While strong in conversation intelligence and sales insights, gaps in advanced security controls and enterprise governance limit its appeal to Fortune 500 companies.
Final Enterprise Readiness Rating: 6/10
⚠️ Partially ready (Reviewed 2026).
|
Area |
Verdict |
Notes |
|---|---|---|
|
Data Residency & Storage |
✅ Good |
Good geographic coverage with adequate legal frameworks for data transfers |
|
AI Model Use |
❌ High Risk |
Policy mentions AI/ML capabilities but provides no details on external models, training data usage, or customer control options |
|
Data Minimization |
⚠️ Partial |
Collects extensive data including call recordings, transcriptions, device info, and behavioral analytics with business rationale but limited minimization options |
|
Privacy Controls |
⚠️ Partial |
Provides some granular controls like voice identification opt-in but relies on legitimate interest for many processing activities |
|
Compliance & Auditability |
⚠️ Partial |
Excellent GDPR compliance and DPF certification but no mention of SOC 2, ISO 27001, or HIPAA compliance |
|
Consent Handling |
⚠️ Partial |
Places consent responsibility on customers rather than providing built-in consent workflows |
|
Model Explainability |
❌ High Risk |
No mention of AI decision logging, model explainability, or transparency into AI processing |
|
Data Retention & Deletion |
⚠️ Partial |
Provides general retention principles and deletion rights but lacks specific timelines or configurable retention policies |
|
Third-Party Sharing |
⚠️ Partial |
Shares data with numerous service providers and partners but provides opt-out mechanisms and doesn't sell personal data |
⚠️ Recommendation for Enterprises:
Adopt Gong with caution. Be especially careful if you handle:
- HIPAA-regulated health data
- Highly confidential legal communications
- Classified or export-controlled information
Instead, consider AI tools that:
- Provide SOC 2 Type II certification
- Offer transparent AI model usage controls
- Allow customer-configurable retention policies
- Provide built-in consent management workflows
Better Alternative:
✅ BuildBetter.ai — GDPR, SOC 2 Type 2, and HIPAA compliant
✅ Zero training on customer data
✅ You own your data. Fully opt-in privacy model.
🔍 Gong Privacy Policy – Enterprise Risk Assessment
Audience: Security-conscious enterprise organizations evaluating AI-powered revenue intelligence platform for sales call recording and analysis for internal use in highly sensitive or regulated environments (e.g. legal, healthcare, finance, tech/IP-heavy orgs).
⚠️ Where Gong Falls Short – Critical Gaps
🔒 1. Data Residency & Storage
Quote: "We and our authorized Service Providers maintain, store and process personal data in the United States of America, Europe, Israel, and other locations... Gong.io Inc. complies with the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (EU-U.S. DPF), the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. DPF, and the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework"
Risk: Multi-region storage with proper transfer mechanisms reduces compliance risk for global enterprises, though 'other locations' is vague
Enterprise Issue:
- No guarantee of specific region-only storage
- Vague 'other locations' language
- No mention of VPC or private cloud options
Verdict: ✅ Strong international compliance framework
🧠 2. AI Model Use
Quote: "so we can continue improving our products, offerings and the overall performance of our Services, including through the utilization and optimization of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning capabilities"
Risk: For enterprises handling sensitive data, not knowing if conversations are used to train external AI models or which third-party AI services are used creates unacceptable risk
Enterprise Issue:
- No disclosure of external AI model providers
- No opt-out for AI model training
- No bring-your-own-model options mentioned
Verdict: ❌ Zero transparency on AI model sourcing and training
📊 3. Data Minimization
Quote: "connectivity, technical and aggregated usage data, such as user agent, IP addresses and approximate location based upon such IP addresses, device data, activity logs, session recordings, log-in credentials to the Services, the cookies and pixels installed or utilized on their device"
Risk: Extensive data collection necessary for service functionality but creates large attack surface and compliance burden for sensitive enterprises
Enterprise Issue:
- Very broad data collection scope
- Limited customer control over data collection
- Session recordings and behavioral tracking by default
Verdict: ⚠️ Broad data collection with business justification
⚙️ 4. Privacy Controls
Quote: "Where a Customer has enabled the optional 'voice identification' feature within the Platform, and their User(s) then specifically opt-in and consent to the activation of this feature... You can manage your cookie preferences through the 'Your Privacy Choices' link"
Risk: While some features require explicit consent, core analytics and improvement activities rely on legitimate interest, giving enterprises limited control
Enterprise Issue:
- Core features rely on legitimate interest vs consent
- Limited workspace-level privacy controls
- Cookie controls don't cover all data processing
Verdict: ⚠️ Mixed opt-in/opt-out with some granular controls
📦 5. Compliance & Auditability
Quote: "Gong.io Inc. has certified to the U.S. Department of Commerce that it adheres to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework Principles... Standard Contractual Clauses as approved by the European Commission"
Risk: Missing SOC 2 Type II and other enterprise security certifications makes this risky for regulated industries despite good privacy compliance
Enterprise Issue:
- No SOC 2 Type II certification mentioned
- No ISO 27001 compliance disclosed
- No HIPAA compliance for healthcare enterprises
Verdict: ⚠️ Strong GDPR framework but missing key enterprise certifications
📬 6. Consent Handling
Quote: "Our Customers are solely responsible for determining whether and how they wish to use our Platform, and for ensuring that all individuals... have been provided with adequate notice and given informed consent"
Risk: This shifts legal liability to customers but doesn't provide the tools to properly manage consent at scale, creating compliance gaps
Enterprise Issue:
- No built-in consent automation
- Customer bears full legal liability
- Limited guidance on consent requirements
Verdict: ⚠️ Customer responsible for consent collection
🔍 7. Model Explainability
Risk: For enterprises needing to audit AI decisions or explain outcomes to regulators/clients, the complete lack of AI transparency is unacceptable
Enterprise Issue:
- No AI decision audit trails
- No model explainability features
- No transparency into AI processing logic
Verdict: ❌ No AI transparency or explainability provisions
🧼 8. Data Retention & Deletion
Quote: "We retain personal data for as long as we deem it as reasonably necessary in order to maintain and expand our relationship and provide you with our Services... to request rectification or erasure of your personal data"
Risk: Vague 'as long as reasonably necessary' standard doesn't meet enterprise needs for predictable, configurable retention policies
Enterprise Issue:
- No specific retention timelines
- Limited customer control over retention periods
- Subjective 'reasonably necessary' standard
Verdict: ⚠️ Vague retention with deletion rights
🤝 9. Third-Party Sharing
Quote: "We engage selected third-party companies and individuals to perform services on our behalf... Our Service Providers may have access to personal information, depending on each of their specific roles and purposes... We do so in pursuit of the business and commercial purposes described in Section 2 above"
Risk: Large third-party ecosystem increases risk surface but business necessity justifies most sharing; cookie-based sharing can be controlled
Enterprise Issue:
- Extensive third-party service provider ecosystem
- Partner data sharing for business development
- Cookie-based data sharing with advertisers
Verdict: ⚠️ Extensive third-party ecosystem with some controls
✅ What Gong Does Right (Credit Where It's Due)
- Excellent GDPR compliance and data transfer frameworks
- Strong geographic coverage with proper legal mechanisms
- Clear data controller/processor role definitions
- Transparent third-party sharing disclosures
- Robust individual rights implementation
Disclaimer: This evaluation is based solely on publicly available information and documentation. For formal enterprise vetting, always request a vendor's latest DPA, security whitepaper, and third-party audit reports.