Can our HubSpot history be licensed to AI companies, and how do we get it out?
Sometimes, if the company has the rights and removes customer personal data first. HubSpot lets users with Export permissions download records such as contacts, companies, deals, tickets and calls as CSV (comma-separated values, a plain spreadsheet format) or Excel files. Some buyers instead connect with read-only access approved by an admin.
What lives in HubSpot, and why do buyers care?
HubSpot usually stores contacts, companies, deals, tickets, call records, logged emails, notes, and marketing activity. For many smaller companies, it is the main record of how sales and support conversations went.
Buyers generally look for the reasoning in the record rather than the contact list: notes on objections, ticket resolutions, and deal timelines. Those free-text fields carry the most value and also most of the privacy risk.
Usually in scope
- Work conversations about operations
- Tickets, tasks and project histories
- Process documents and SOPs
- Orders, invoices and workflow records, de-identified
- Code repositories you own outright
Commonly left out
- HR, payroll and personnel files
- Board, legal and M&A material
- Direct messages and private channels
- Data you hold for customers under contract
- Health, financial-account or other regulated personal data
How does a HubSpot export work?
As of October 2026, HubSpot's knowledge base says you export from an object's list view by choosing a view, clicking Export, picking a file format, and choosing which properties and associations to include. HubSpot emails a download link when the file is ready.
- Formats: CSV, XLS (older Excel format), and XLSX (current Excel format).
- Objects include contacts, companies, deals, tickets, calls, appointments, payments, and custom objects.
- Limits: up to 300 exports in a rolling 24 hours and three running at once.
- Large exports may arrive as a zip of several files, and download links expire after 30 days.
Who can do it?
HubSpot says Export permissions are required. Account admins can grant or restrict that permission. Because exports can pull every property on every record, it is sensible to have one named person run them and to use the Customize option to include only the agreed fields.
Do buyers need a file?
Some buyer programs ask for a read-only connection instead of files. In HubSpot that is usually an app a super admin installs, which requests access scopes for particular objects. Approve only read scopes for the objects in the license, and ask how the buyer deletes what it copied once the work ends.
What should stay out?
- Contact names, emails, phone numbers, and addresses.
- Payment records and anything resembling card or bank details.
- Marketing lists, especially contacts who never agreed to data reuse.
- Notes about employees, quotas, and commissions.
- Records tied to customer contracts that bar reuse.
What rights questions apply?
Most business software agreements let the customer export its own data. But a CRM (customer relationship management software) is full of information about other people: customer contacts, their messages, and sometimes their purchase history. Privacy laws such as the CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act), marketing consent rules, and customer contracts can all limit what you may license, even after names are removed. Read our guides on de-identification and on employee and customer privacy, and talk to your lawyer.
Where should you start with HubSpot data?
Pull a list of the objects and custom properties your portal actually uses, and note which free-text fields (notes, call logs, ticket descriptions) hold the useful detail. Limit Export permission to one named person for the duration of the project. A sample built from one object type, such as closed tickets with contact fields removed, is a practical first step.
Common questions
Which file formats does HubSpot export?
HubSpot says CSV, XLS, and XLSX. CSV has no column limit, which suits large exports.
Can we export notes and emails logged to records?
You can choose properties and associations in the export dialog. Check with your admin which activity fields are included in your account.
How long are download links valid?
HubSpot says 30 days, and export history stays in the export log for three years.
Is de-identification needed?
Usually yes for CRM data. See our guide on how de-identification works.
Sources
- Export your records | HubSpot Knowledge Base, accessed 2026-10-15
General information, not legal, tax or financial advice.