Greetings @Globetrotter,
No one on this platform should have to ask, “Why is privacy not so important?” Your response reads as such. You may not value your privacy the way I value mine or perhaps not at all, but I value mine. I also value other peoples privacy.
But since you asked, I can provide some reasons. One reason is leaving breadcrumbs. Have you heard of that term in the technological sense? If not, Google is a powerful tool. A second reason, have you had a stalker, meaning another human trying to follow you, or recreate a pattern of behavior? Have you ever been the defendant in an unjust lawsuit and had a bailiff trying to serve you papers? Granted, THS is likely not used for these specific purposes but when a platform allows an exact date of a previous sit, you can begin to paint a picture. These are just two examples, I can name 10 more if needed but that isn’t necessary.
I live in the USA. In the USA, when you lose your privacy, you don’t get it back, even with a lot of money. As one example, just ask Jeff Bezos about his selfies…he barely escaped that ordeal. No one on this platform is a billionaire, the measures normal people must take when identify is compromised take a lot more time, value and money compared to a family with the means of Jeff Bezos.
My reason is simple as that, simple privacy. The less breadcrumbs we leave, the better. If THS instituted a simple policy that major corporations that do business across the world adopt, I don’t see why it is so unreasonable to have a conversation about it and implement a minor and simple change. THS amplifies our bread crumbs by posting exact dates, not to mention the cities where we have stayed. My issue, this information doesn’t even require a password.
Little things and changes make the biggest differences sometimes in our life, for better or for worse. If you can name me a disadvantage of being a little more vague versus exact, that may work for you. However, you are also free to leave your exact dates of travel on a review of a HO if you would like as well. But why would you do that?
It does not harm anyone if THS adopted the polices already in place among world companies, however reconstructing exact movements of people, it can potentially do damage.
But if AirBnB, VBRO and Google now take small steps to protect your privacy as you have seen from my screenshots (I only posted my AirBnB ones), they must have many more reasons than we know. Those decisions happened within the past 9 months or so, it is telling.
To your credit, you would like a HO to know how long you have stayed at a previous sit (s) and I agree, that has value. If I am applying for a six month sit but my longest was weekend, that is information a HO should know prior to agreeing to a sit. But, if AirBnB can relay that directly to hosts on platforms by shielding YOUR information, so can THS. I agree that is helpful to know, but generic language gets the point across just as well. A night, a few nights, a month, over a month, 5-6 months…those are good enough descriptions.
Sometimes, less is more.
But, for those that would prefer exact dates are shown on your previous travel…feel free to write them in. However, I would also be satisfied if THS required a sign in by registered members to view such data, my issue is, it is on the open internet.
I hope that makes sense. I am an advocate for privacy, in case you can’t tell!
Thank you for asking.
