Overview
Both person and company records includelast_seen dates to track when data was last observed.
Person data additionally uses current flags on contact arrays (phones, emails, locations, socials) to indicate our best assessment for which contact method to use right now. Only mobile phones can be marked current. Personal emails have current: null because we can’t verify if they’re still in use.
Person Data: The current Field
The current field answers: “If I need to contact this person, which phone/email should I use?”
| Field | current: true means | current: false means | current: null means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phone | This is the primary mobile | Not the primary contact | N/A (phones always have true/false) |
| Email (work) | Confirmed current employer email | Historical or unconfirmed | N/A |
| Email (personal) | N/A | N/A | We can’t verify (unknown) |
| Location | Current residence | Historical address | N/A |
| LinkedIn profile | Primary profile | Secondary account | N/A |
Phone Classification
Phones are classified by type, which affects current selection:| Type | Can be current? |
|---|---|
| Mobile | Yes (exactly one per person) |
| Landline | No |
| VoIP | No |
| Unknown | No |
Work Email Current Rules
A work email is markedcurrent: true when it meets our criteria for current employment verification.
If multiple work emails qualify, we select the best one using our proprietary selection criteria.
Personal Email Current Rules
Personal emails (Gmail, Yahoo, ISP emails, etc.) always havecurrent: null.
Why null instead of true/false?
truewould imply we confirmed they still use it (we haven’t)falsewould imply we confirmed they don’t (we haven’t)null= “unknown” is the honest answer
current field specifically measures “confirmed active use,” which requires external validation we don’t currently perform.
Top-Level Convenience Fields
For quick access, we promotecurrent: true items to top-level fields:
| Top-Level Field | Source |
|---|---|
work_email | First professional email with current: true |
mobile_phone | First mobile phone with current: true |
linkedin_url | First LinkedIn social with current: true |
city | From first location with current: true |
state | From first location with current: true |
country | From first location with current: true |
current: true entry exists, the top-level field will be null.
Company Data: Freshness Tracking
Company records track freshness at the record level rather than per-field:| Field | Description |
|---|---|
last_seen | Month the company record was last observed (YYYY-MM format) |
current flags. Company socials, domains, and tickers do not include per-element confidence, num_sources, last_seen, or current fields. These are simpler structures compared to person contact arrays.
Workforce analytics fields (the legion_ prefix fields) are derived monthly from person data and reflect the state of the workforce at the time of the most recent build.
Common Questions
Why is this personal email showing current: null when it has high confidence?
Why is this personal email showing current: null when it has high confidence?
confidence measures how many sources agree this email belongs to this person. current measures whether we can confirm it’s actively used today. For personal emails, we can’t make that determination without external validation, so we leave it as null (unknown).We do not currently perform active-use verification for personal emails.Why is this phone not marked current?
Why is this phone not marked current?
Check the phone type:
- If it’s a landline/VoIP, these are never current (only mobiles qualify)
- If it’s a mobile, only one mobile per person is current; this one wasn’t selected
How recent does data need to be?
How recent does data need to be?
Work emails must meet our criteria to be marked current. For phones, we use our prioritization method.
Can old data still be useful?
Can old data still be useful?
Yes. Historical phones/emails are still included in the output, but they won’t be marked
current. Some use cases (research, identity assessment) benefit from historical data.How often is the data refreshed?
How often is the data refreshed?
Data is refreshed monthly. The
current flag helps you identify the most up-to-date contact information.Related Documentation
- Data Verification - How we verify data quality
- Quality Scoring - Understanding quality scores