Is it legal to license company Slack data?
The short answer
Slack says customers own their data, which does not settle a license. NDAs, customer contracts, employee and privacy law, shared-channel content from other organizations and API terms can limit a license. A Frankfurt Kurnit memo says holding data does not mean you can license it. Ask a lawyer.
Slack's privacy principles say "Customers own their own Customer Data."
They also say Slack will not use Customer Data to train generative AI models unless the customer opts in. Both lines describe what Slack does. Neither says what you may do with an export.
Does Slack stop me from licensing my own export?
I found no sentence in Slack's privacy principles that bars a customer from handing over its own export. Read that as "not found", which is a long way from "permitted".
Owners can export, with limits by plan. Free and Pro workspaces export public channels. Slack's export tools guide says that under limited circumstances their owners may apply to export private channels and DMs, on the basis of valid legal process, consent of members, or a requirement or right under applicable laws.
Business+ and Enterprise owners can export private channels and DMs too (Slack help center).
Which limits come from outside Slack?
Slack channels with customers, partners and vendors hold other companies' confidential information, often under NDAs. That is the FKKS memo's point, and it is why NDAs come first.
The same channels hold people's messages. California's CCPA defines a sale as disclosing personal information for "monetary or other valuable consideration," and it has covered employee data since 1 Jan 2023.
More on that in licensing employee emails.
What about Slack Connect channels?
Slack says retention settings apply only to messages and files sent by your members. Other people's content follows their own organization's rules.
So a shared-channel export carries a partner's messages inside it, and Slack's text does not say who owns that content. We cover it in shared channel messages.
Do Slack's API terms matter?
They matter to whoever connects by API. Slack's API terms say an app provider offering apps outside the customer's organization may not use API Data to train a large language model.
They also bar bulk export of message and file data without an additional agreement.
A buyer that links to your workspace through an app is that provider. The terms are written for app providers and say nothing about a customer's own export.
Talk to a privacy or commercial lawyer in your state before you sign. Our rights check and risks page list what to bring to that call.
Vaultfish helps you run the process. We are not lawyers and this is not legal advice. If you need counsel who knows this area, we can point you to one. Ask for a referral
