In December 2025, Zillow quietly removed a feature it had launched just three months earlier: climate risk scores on individual property listings showing wildfire, flood, extreme heat, wind, and air quality data.1 The timing was interesting. 2025 was tracking as the second or third warmest year on record, with over four times more record highs than record lows across major U.S. cities.2
River Banks isn't their real name. This interview has been reconstructed from multiple background conversations with people familiar with the project and reviewed by legal counsel. What you're about to read is what's left after that review.
How did you end up working on the climate risk feature?
River: I got hired in ████ 2025 as a UX designer. When they assigned me to climate risk, I was [REDACTED]. Finally, actual meaningful work. We were going to help people understand what they were buying into. The data came from [REDACTED], and my job was figuring out how to display wildfire risk, flood zones, all of it, in a way that was [REDACTED PER PR REVIEW] without being "alarmist."
What does alarmist mean in this context?
River: [REDACTED].
But also [REDACTED].
We did user testing where people would see a property with high flood risk and immediately [REDACTED], which—look, that's [REDACTED]. The whole point was [REDACTED]. Then Legal got involved and suddenly we're debating whether showing accurate climate data could be considered [REDACTED], and whether homeowners whose property values ████████ might ████████████.
So liability concerns existed from the start?
River: [REMOVED BY LEGAL COUNSEL].
Although I will say that in one meeting, someone from Risk Management said, and I'm quoting: [REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED] "property values" [REDACTED] "fiduciary responsibility" [REDACTED REDACTED] "████ the data."
Which was [REDACTED].
The feature launched in September 2025. How did that feel?
River: Like we'd actually done something good? For maybe ██ days, I felt proud. We got press coverage, people were using it, climate scientists were tweeting [REDACTED]. My mom called and said [REDACTED].
Then the calls started.
What kind of calls?
River: [REDACTED PER SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT].
Also [REDACTED].
Also [REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED] from ████████, Florida, who said [ENTIRE PARAGRAPH REMOVED BY LEGAL].
The phrase "economic terrorism" came up more than once. I designed an icon system. I didn't [REDACTED].
When did you learn the feature was being removed?
River: I found out ████████████. Someone from Product said we were "pausing" it to "refine the user experience." Corporate speak for [REDACTED]. They said it was temporary, that we'd relaunch with [REDACTED], but I'd been in tech long enough to know what ████████ means.
December 1st, the feature disappeared. We got the email ████████. It said [REDACTED REDACTED] "stakeholder concerns" [REDACTED] "business priorities" [REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED]. I asked if we could at least ████████████.
They said [REMOVED].
What did "stakeholder concerns" mean specifically?
River: [REDACTED].
But I can tell you that in the three months the feature was live, ████████ properties in ████████ and ████████ saw their listing views ████████, and ████████████████████. Also, [REDACTED REDACTED] from the National Association of Realtors [REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED].
Make of that what you will.
What happened to the team that built it?
River: [REDACTED].
I'm still employed. I now work on [REDACTED], which is [REDACTED]. The data scientist who integrated the climate models is [REDACTED]. The product manager who championed it got "promoted" to work on ████████████, which doesn't involve anything that could ████████████.
Do you still have access to the climate risk data?
River: [REMOVED BY LEGAL].
But theoretically, if someone did have access, they would see that properties in ████████ have [REDACTED]% flood risk over the next ██ years. That ████████ has [REDACTED] wildfire risk. That [ENTIRE SECTION REMOVED].
The data exists. It's just [REDACTED].
There's something darkly funny about removing climate information during one of the hottest years on record.
River: Is there?
[REDACTED].
2025 had ██ billion-dollar weather disasters through June alone,3 but sure, let's make it harder for people to [REDACTED]. The LA fires in January cost [REDACTED], but [REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED]. We're absorbing energy equivalent to ██ Hiroshima bombs in the oceans every second,4 but showing someone their house is in a flood zone might [REDACTED].
Sorry. I'm [REDACTED].
What would you tell someone who's house-hunting now?
River: [REMOVED BY LEGAL COUNSEL].
Also [REDACTED].
But if they asked me personally, off the record, I'd say [REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED] and maybe [REDACTED] because [ENTIRE PARAGRAPH REMOVED].
The data is out there. Just not on ████████ anymore.
Will the feature come back?
River: [REDACTED].
█████████ told me that ████████ is considering something similar, and ████████████ already has [REDACTED], so maybe [REDACTED]. But honestly? I think we'll relaunch it right around the time that [REDACTED REDACTED] makes climate risk disclosure mandatory.
Which is to say [REDACTED].
What are you working on now?
River: [REDACTED PER NDA].
It's fine. It's ████████. It doesn't involve anything that could ████████████ or ████████████ or make anyone uncomfortable about [REDACTED]. I come in, I design ████████, I go home. Nobody calls me ████████████. Nobody threatens to ████████.
It's just—I spent three months building something that told people the truth about where they were thinking of living, and then we took it away because the truth was [REDACTED]. And now I'm designing [REDACTED].
So that's [REDACTED].
Anything else you want to say?
River: [REMOVED BY LEGAL].
But I will say this: the climate risk feature was accessed ████████ times in three months. ████████ people looked at that data and used it to make decisions. And now it's gone, and those people are [REDACTED], and I [REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED].
Also? My apartment is in a ████-year flood zone. I found that out from [REDACTED], not from ████████.
Because obviously [REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED].
[REMAINDER OF INTERVIEW REMOVED BY LEGAL COUNSEL]