Just want to point out Travelman that anyone on this forum can view your entire profile so you may not want other forum members being able to do that as you value your privacy. I was able to click on your profile as anyone on here can do.
Well, I had not thought of it from that perspective but I think @TravelMan has a point here. No need to jump down his throat. It’s true that the address is not published but there are pictures of people and houses and sometimes very clear descriptions of where the house is. I think there’s more sensitive information about the homeowners but a sitter could be tracked down too, especially if there is a pattern. I honestly don’t think THS is going to change this but they should at least hide part of the information for general public.
@Newpetlover @TravelMan On the THS website, it is only members who can actually see complete listings or sitter profiles, not the general public. I doubt they have paid their membership for the purpose of tracking down a home to burgle for example. With over 200,00+ members, any rogue members would definitely be in the minority.
The Forum is open to the general public so that is more of a risk to a person’s privacy if a member attaches their profile/listing to it.
That is not entirely true. Just log out and look at the url of for example @travelman or of a homeowner.
It is also possible to register with a free account if one wants to look around on the site. And I suppose there are hacks to get behind that one-more-thing popup window.
Also, this forum is open to read by anyone.
Thanks for correcting me @pietkuip. I knew you had to create a free account to check the site out. Maybe things have changed as I was sure at one time you couldn’t see full listings/profiles unless you were a member.
Yes, I mentioned in my previous comment that the forum was open to the general public.
I can confirm that with a free account (on a different browser) I was able to read my entire sitter profile on THS incl. my first name, pics, etc. So if any privacy concerns, it should concern one’s entire THS profile, not just previous sitter dates
I am glad my message wasn’t inferred to come off rude, I just wanted to be detailed as a matter of respect. Thank you for the acknowledgement.
WOW…the people that preach kindness, really need to practice what they preach.
I am not going to call out anyone specifically…but living in fear??? My wish, is for my past travel habits not be accessible to everyone on the internet. I would most likely be OK with it, if PAID MEMBERS were able to access that information to make a guided decision whether it is worth our time for a FaceTime/ZOOM/Video interview.
But living in fear is not what I was implying. I will admit, perhaps my examples came off strong but those were examples to get a point across. But if anyone wants to go down the, “I must be living in fear road,” well…next someone is going to say, “I haven’t locked my front door in 15 years! I don’t fear anyone!” Then someone else is going to chime in, “I don’t need to see a doctor or get my bloodwork done every year, I can outrun a whipper snapper 40 years younger!” Then, we will have someone else post that seatbelts harm more people than save. Then…someone else will write about how they eat raw meat.
If you think living in fear means locking my door at night, trying to eat well, going to the doctor when I feel off, wearing a seatbelt, wearing a winter jacket when it is -40° or…drinking a lot of water while hiking at 14,000 feet above sea level or making sure that I don’t post my credit card information on this very page…then consider me guilty now!!!
Privacy is not about fear. Like locking your door, turning on your porch light, wearing a seatbelt and making sure you don’t eat food off the bottom of a very dirty horse trailer, small steps go a long way.
All I am saying, if THS intuited a VERY SIMPLE POLICY like what AirBnB, AS ONE EXAMPLE, is already doing, how is that fearful? And what harm does that do?
I have been reading comments that members have made in other “chat rooms.” I really respect the individuals that are consistently kind, respectful, factual and helpful, such as offering suggestions. But some specific members that speak of kind and respect in other chats are not so kind and respectful here.
But don’t worry…I am a single guy and I am in professional sales. My skin is most likely thicker than most!!!
Thank you to those that have consistently, and kindly provided good insight. I have been learning a lot from the majority.
Points noted! Thank you!
This is my point exactly…perhaps I should take one lesson from you and avoid writing novels on here. Less is more…enough said!
This response was for me a reason to doubt that.
Examples of lovely and kind people are all over this forum. THIS comment, from a retired teacher go against that! Fortunately, comments like this are the minority.
Nothing wrong with being thin-skinned. Or sensitive, to choose the nicer word.
But how about respecting privacy?
Having just invited a bunch of sitters who favorited my listing to come sit for me starting next month, I can see some benefits from showing PAST locations/dates.
No matter where a sitter comes from, if I saw someone who was just recently in or solely focused on my area of Northern California, it was a little more encouraging that they might be interested in my listing.
Alternatively, when I saw someone only in Europe, or even only on the East Coast, or who was very recently in Australia, I knew they were less likely to be interested in visiting my area of Northern California for only 3 weeks and only 7 weeks lead time.