I bet you are right. They are probably trying to mitigate risks, since so many folks in the U.S sue over just about anything. There is a lot of litigation here for “negligent hiring” if a business does not properly screen employees and they steal or commit a violent act to a customer. Of course, we are not employees.
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THS, a British company, is asking us to provide our Social Security numbers to a company with an IT department in Poland. This is tailor-made for hacking.
By requiring this information as a condition of membership, THS demonstrates that they do not care about the welfare of their sitter members. They are concerned only with profits.
There have been bad sitters, one of my HOs had a very bad experience with one and we have read about others here on the forum, so I understand that THS wants to avoid litigation and needs to assure their HO clients that the sitters they send are verified and trustworthy. I agree there should be stringent universal verification requirements in place. Government background checks, such as an FBI criminal history, individual state criminal history search, Global Entry, TSA Pre-check and NEXUS in Canada should all be acceptable forms of verification that would not compromise someone’s life savings, home, reputation and all the other things people have lost through identity theft.
Why not mandate the same security checks for HOs? We could be walking into John Wayne Gacy’s house and never know it. But how many HOs will sign on with THS if they are asked to submit their their Social Security numbers as a condition for membership?
If you object to this new policy, I urge you to make your feelings known by writing directly to THS management.
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Hi @Deborah and @Temba,
Membership services have replied that some Australian members have been able to have their ID verified by EVIdent, however they are unsure what documents these were e.g. state based drivers licences, which is what I am trying to verify, versus Passports.
They are going to follow up with the company and clarify what document types they can verify.
I will update you once I have this information.
Cheers
Fran
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Thank you. Very interesting. I will wait until it is sorted out.
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Thanks @Franti for passing on what you have been told by Membership services.
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With nothing better to do on a Friday evening and the two dogs snoozing beside me, I decided to take a look at the numbers of sitters worldwide who have a background check symbol against their name. However, I got sidetracked when I started noticing some sitters with NO verification symbol at all - 50 of them - and I counted from the sitters with the most reviews (108) to those with 20. I’m just curious how experienced, long time sitters with 63, 57, 49, 44 and down to 20 5* reviews have not been required to provide any verification up to this point. They really have been ‘trusted’ by home owners.
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From what I have read and heard, it sounds like in focusing on this US expansion they have been targeting adding more homeowners. And it sounds like some of the feedback they have received is some homeowners (who currently aren’t participating in THS) would be more comfortable with there were background checks.
So I think this is absolutely rooted in this expansion money and also their targeting of adding more homeowners and adding this mandatory infringement in an effort to woo mor business (homeowners) to their site. Bottom line, it’s about more business and money. Not about the community of homeowners and sitters, many of whom have been here for years with excellent work and reputation.
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how do we contant THS management directly? Is there an email?
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Hi @sarahftravel … can you send your email through to support@trustedhousesitters.com and a member of the team will forward it to the most relevant senior member of staff who can help with your particular query. Many thanks.
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We all know this new verification rule is because of the expansion into USA. Being sued is a way of life there and THS, as a business, has to safe guard themselves against possible litigation.
Also, USA pet owners are an entirely different kettle of fish. They are far more security conscious. I’m talking in general. And the extra checks give them a little more faith in the sitter, rightly or wrongly? Who knows.
On the other hand, there is far more crime and mental health problems in USA and it would be very useful for sitters, particularly solo females ones, to see some sort of security check done on the pet owners. It is one of my concerns for solo sitters.
I am assuming that a social security number is equivalent to a National Insurance number in the UK which would tell a person absolutely nothing about crimes committed or misdemeanours of a person. It is basically something the Government keep track of us work wise. My passport and driving licence would show nothing either. Maybe driving offences which are no real help in a security situation. I suppose police records could be checked. Of course a passport would verify who you are. But to get a real feel of the person the reviews and references give the main clear picture.
I have no issues verifying who I am to THS but I cannot see the point of it. There are so many stories of people living/travelling on false documentation. Why not leave it to the individuals. If a pet owner wants more verification let them ask the sitter. Then the sitter has the choice of giving it or walking away. Of course we all would have to sign a waiver form( pet owners and sitters) stating if anything happens it’s nothing to do with THS which brings us back to the real reason why they want this new verification. Being sued is very expensive
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Continuing the discussion from New Background Check Rules:Itrying in vain to load up my passport details got back a message to blurry looked fine to me.tearing my hair out did it again.how many chances do I get.
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Hi @Genevere … let me help you by getting your details over to membership services so that they can assist with this. Bear with me while I find your account details and send them a message.
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This is the reply I received from THS when I asked exactly what information Evident will report to THS:
The only information we receive from Evident regarding a member’s check would be the progress of it. We don’t have any access to the ID itself. Evident’s software confirms the ID after you’ve uploaded it directly to them.
Identification checks are then performed on a member’s chosen document to ensure that they are valid, including cross-checking databases to ensure that they have not been reported as lost, stolen or compromised.
Are the ID checks only done on the actual THS member? If that’s the case, what about others who are sitting along with the THS member (ie. my spouse)?
Hi @PetSitterBug - the FAQs cover many of the questions but here’s the response to that particular question…
Why do we only check one member’s ID/background, even if it is a couple/two people travelling?
We identified the account holder and the payment provider as the consistent sitter. In the future, we would like to make improvements on how we display information on a partner or friend travelling.
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@Vanessa-Admin Thank you for the link to the FAQs which does answer a good many questions previously posed and may, for the time being, assuage concerns voiced by a vast majority of long standing sitters.
I would think a HO would identify the gap not checking all parties connected with the account holder.
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US Homeowner here & brand new to the site – Just throwing my unsolicited two cents in here…
I would never be ok with supplying my social security number to a third party website – I don’t even like giving it on gov’t websites. In fact, I would leave the platform if required. But, as a homeowner, I do appreciate the idea of a background check. With that being said, I would happily accept (and encourage) the site to work with sitters to confirm their gov’t issued checks, such as TSA (or others). And, I’d be willing to supply that myself.
With that said, I understand sitters not supplying their SSN (or equivalent) to a third party site. I also work in tech. Every site is secure - until it’s not.
There is also the option to have local police run a background check and provide proof in the form of a document. Could this not be notorized and scanned? Criminal Record Checks.
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Thank you, @OldManHomer . I am happy to send THS my two professional nursing licenses that required criminal background checks, my passport, my driver’s license, my global entry permit, utility and property tax bills to confirm residence. it would be highly unusual for someone to forge all of these documents. These in combination with my 21 excellent reviews should surely be enough to assure THS that I am a person to to be trusted.
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I have “wooed” (referred) 17 paid up members to the site having been a member for 5 years now, even had business cards made with my TH details on I would pass people in Dog parks etc., I as a sitter feel really “untrusted” by this mandate, that seemingly will not be asked of Home Owners too!
Sadly I will leave, should I be forced to, and join the many other sites (and now Facebook pages) where I can find alternative pet sits.
I suggest to Members feeling the same to be sure to screen shot / cut paste (however you want to do it) your reviews from the website if you wish to use them elsewhere, before you can no longer access them.
I honestly don’t want to leave, I’ve been a very happy member until now - but my personal data / Identity is really important to me and something I will not trust in the hands of this third party company - sorry.
I won’t even make copies of my passports / DL’s etc for HO’s - but more than happy to show them directly.
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Yes, and I think competing sites like Normador, House Sitters America and others (do a web search) should be informed that there may be an influx of new members because the many leaving THS will be looking for good alternatives. With improvements, some of these could be very competitive with THS. Do not hesitate to contact these sites, I plan to. I do not want to leave THS, but if this policy remains I will have no choice.
I white out ID numbers on my drivers license and passport before transmitting online, but I will fax my driver’s license and professional licenses with id number.
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