As a HO do you think that you should have background checks verified too? It doesn’t seem fair that only sitters are verified, as quite a few people here have mentioned it should be a two way thing
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I have no idea, quite possibly. I have not thought about it before, but this is not the
topic being discussed. As I said, these are questions i am asking to get clarity from TH on what is being spoken about here because a) I don’t properly understand the difference between the old checks and the new, and therefore what it will tell me about a sitter, and b) I see a lot of sitters with long term membership being alarmed about this so I don’t think they understand either - or if they do understand they do not see a need for it, and i want to hear that.
This is not an ‘us and them’ issue…for this unique system to work we all have to be comfortable and happy (especially when we are paying for membership) and it concerns me that so many sitters are unhappy.
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Hi @Boodie
As a sitter I also would like clarity.
I have been asked to provide id to prove who I am. Does that make me trustworthy?
I also understand that other countries, e g. USA, have to provide even more information for a background check.
My concern is identity theft.
I am happy to provide any information securely to a homeowner.
As I have tons of reviews, a HO is happy with those.
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That is how i am reading it too. I guess what i am trying to say is that i am not a Sitter, but I am adding my voice to saying I want clarity too, for both sides of the exchange. I do not know what it is supposed to give me that I was not getting before, and specifically what a ‘newbie’ check would tell me that an ‘oldie’ check does not. I really would want to understand that further. I am entrusting my precious things, to someone else, and throw my home open to them - I should at least try to understand what it is that I am getting from TH as assurance and checks of that sitter.
If i was a sitter I would be hugely concerned about identity theft too and whether the process can be trusted (as a HO I am concerned for this for sitters anyway), and so at the very least these extra checks need to bring something positive to the table or they are not worth it. I assume TH think it does bring something positive, so i would like to know.
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I agree, other suggestions…NotSoTrustedHousesitters.Com? WeTreatEveryoneLikeCriminalsUntilAPossiblyNotSecureArbitraryCheckIsCompleteHouseSitters.Com
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From everyone’s comments it seems like THS did not consider the house sitters in this decision, but only the home owners. For those who said it is just like the information you would need to rent a car, that is not correct. You do not need to give your SSN to rent a car. Like the many others who commented here, giving the SSN is a big risk for the house sitters – one that the homeowners do not have to equally take on. It makes the assumption that the homeowners are inherently trustworthy (they do not need to do this) and that the house sitters are inherently untrustworthy (we can’t trust you unless and until you do this). As someone else said, this takes away from the spirit of THS that made it such a wonderful platform.
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I have contemplated this as well. I think out of 45+ sits there is only one who actually locked their office and he was a owner of a multi million pound business. We have had bills and personal letters lying around the kitchen. We usually tidy them up and put them in a place we will not be using. I’ve always wondered if I would have the courage to hand over my biggest asset to complete strangers without asking for more security than we give. The answer is probably.
It is definitely a mind set that makes this concept work. We walk into a strangers home, only knowing what they want us to know, to look after their beloved animals, home and garden. The home owners accept us with only the information we have provided. Things do go bad sometimes. But the trust in trusted house sitters seems to work mostly.
We are now in North America and are finding the pet owners need far more detail about us than their European counterparts. We are very willing to give them it.
Elsie
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I’ve just contacted Paul Maisey / Head of Membership Services about this as I am not happy with the Privacy Policy of this third party verification company; EvIDent - or the fact that they are a USA / Poland based company. I do not believe based on their own privacy policy that our details will INDEED be private and have had a friend in GDPR data law looked it over and stated thus.
I have over 60+ only 5 star reviews, and have referred over 17 members to the company. I have my own Public indemnity insurance with Cliverton Insurance; Cliverton is a trading name of Lycett, Browne-Swinburne & Douglass Ltd. (Reg No. 706042 ENGLAND) which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA No. 310623). I have had background checks already for this.
If I am forced to leave the site after March 16th due to this (as told after this date, I will not be able to apply for any housesits if I don’t carry out this procedure), then regrettably I will - which will be at the detriment of TH memberships, rather than my loyal clients, as they will just contact me directly, rather than as they have been inviting me through the website with their annual membership.
I don’t understand how a company that doesn’t actually employ or pay you can persist you do this?
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The mandatory requirements for UK based sitters to forward sensitive personal data to a US based organisation is alarming in the extreme. THS will not confirm or otherwise that the UK Data Protection Act will apply. If not, UK sitters are totally exposed to any potential data breach and without recourse to any form of redress. Again THS are standing to one side and whilst confirming they will be paying the cost of individual checks, apparently they will not provide any reassurance on data control apart from “we have dealt with our tried and trusted partner for a number of years and their systems are secure”!
Sorry but after 6 years with THS, 30 Reviews and travelled worldwide, this is a step too far for me. Time to move on
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Thanks. Company based in Atlanta Georgia. If you are (hopefully) correct then UK Data laws would apply. Unfortunately THS will not confirm this fact.
Am in no doubt based in US with overseas affiliates. So why doesn’t THS confirm that UK sitters would be covered by UK Data Protection ? The answer is pretty obvious I would suggest. Extremely ill thought out idea with poor understanding of Data control.
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I suggest everyone who is displeased with this new requirement
contact the management directly. If no remedial action is taken
there could be a mass exodus that will only serve to benefit their
competitors.
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I thought he/she was referring to the company conducting background checks.
I don’t think THS has a US base of operations yet. Can an employee confirm if THS has incorporated in the US yet?
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Evidentid is headquartered in Atlanta Georgia, employs 80 persons and has $28.8m in total funding. They opened their FIRST overseas office in Krakow Poland in 2019!
Do not appreciate comments such as rubbish when important issues are at stake.
Please supply full trading style, and date of incorporation on your Brighton information
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Hello Community Members
Firstly thank you for everyone’s feedback and interaction on this topic and please be assured that your responses are being read and taken onboard by the wider team.
- This post is just to clarify some of the operational concerns raised on this thread and point you in the direction of some information that has been created to help guide those members involved through the process.
- All sitters will be required to complete an ID check – however, if you’ve already done this in the past you do not need to take any action - check your profile and if it isn’t requesting any action, you have nothing to do.
- The mandatory criminal background checks currently affect only those registered in the USA.
- Email communications were sent out on Monday 7th February – if you’ve unsubscribed you will not receive anything. There will be continual prompts and reminders up until the deadline by email and on the platform.
- The deadline for completion is March 16th
- Please note - if you have already completed an ID check you will not get an email.
- Evident are based in the US
- TrustedHousesitters is a UK registered company
Handy links…
Link to Frequently Asked Questions
ID & Background Checks: FAQs | TrustedHousesitters.com
Link to blog - Evident ID & Background check info:
Link to email - US registered customer only
Link to email - Rest of world
We have to have consistency across the site and understand why some members have concerns around the implementation of these new measures however the overriding benefit for everyone will be added trust and safety in our community, and will help sitters give extra reassurance to owners when they’re searching for the perfect sitter to care for their home and pets.
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This is the reply I received in response to the letter I sent yesterday:
Thank you for reaching out to us with your concerns.
We understand that our decision to introduce mandatory checks has frustrated and concerned some of our existing members. While we sincerely apologise if this is causing any upset, we strongly believe that this decision will benefit our entire housesitting community.
It is our aim to grow our community and the number of available housesits. In order to do this, we must attract more homeowner members. We know that the main barrier that stops new owners joining TrustedHousesitters is the fact that not all sitters are verified. Therefore we know that verified sitters will result in more owners, more listings and more opportunities for sitters.
In addition, we are always looking at ways of improving member safety. Of course, having verified sitters gives owners peace of mind and added reassurance that their home and pets are in safe hands. We have also been making safety improvements for sitters by recently making it mandatory for owners to record their full address details with us.
We have also been receiving questions about the 3rd party provider we use for our verifications. We have partnered with Evident for a number of years as they are a globally recognised, secure and safe verification provider. We know that by partnering with Evident, all security and data protection rules are being followed and that our members’ personal information is being dealt with safely and securely.
We hope that all our sitter members will embrace this change and support us as we continue to improve our platform and the growth of our community. That said, in cases where an existing member is not willing to complete their required verification on or before 16th March 2022, their ability to apply for future housesits will be removed. Of course, if anyone feels so strongly about this that they would prefer to close their membership and receive a pro-rated refund, we would allow this.
I hope that I have managed to address your concerns. I do sincerely apologise if these changes have upset you and I very much hope that you will continue to be a valued TrustedHousesitters member.
Kind Regards,
Conor
Member Experience Executive
Visit our friendly Community Forum to share advice, find support, and discuss all things house sitting, pets, travel, and more.
https://forum.trustedhousesitters.com/
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(0) 1273 358769
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(0) 808 1785384
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Thanks for this Angela. As a HO, please can I ask how this is different from the checks that went before? Thank you?
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Thank you for this clarity. It appears that the links to the emails that you provided are switched.
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Hi @anon1411559 thank you for the heads up … all corrected now. 
To all the HO’s that might welcome this verification by EvIDent; a USA / Poland based company, I’m sure Kurt Zouma could validate his identify via this platform, that doesn’t mean he’s not going to drop-kick your cat! Surely the reviews system is a far superior process.
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