I also just learned you can have your information put on anonymous. There is a member in the forum who has their profile anonymous. I asked THS about it because I thought it might be a bot or someone who is not a member in here and they told me this person is a member they just wanted There information in the forum private. And they don’t have to link their profile to the forum.
Amazing! And yet THS operates in many European countries!
I’m less worried about the forum. I never added my link in the first place. To me all the data which THS has about sitters and homeowners is a gold mine for scammers. There are also many sitters who may be crossing borders for housesitting and this information could put them in legal jeopardy. There are many homeowners in rentals or condos with restrictions on “unsupervised” guests who could also get into trouble. This in addition to stalking and scams.
In this instance THS haven’t shared any personal information about the host (their address or full name) that is something that their neighbour already knew . (Pets identities aren’t covered by GDPR ).
We all agree to how THS use our information when we sign up and we can all opt out at anytime.
Here is the privacy policy that all members have agreed to -
Indeed they do, and, like any company operating across Europe, they are subject to -and required to comply with - the comprehensive regulatory framework established by European law and the GDPR.
The General Data Protection Regulation is the toughest privacy and security law in the world.
Personal data is not shared by THS that’s why members have to share their full name , phone number with each other and the hosts voluntarily share their address in their Welcome Guide - THS will not share this information with other members .
Photos of pets and homes are not covered by GDPR.
Listing and forum is separate, and you’re right you don’t have to share your listing or your personal data on forum.
Sometimes a forum member would like to get some input on their listing on forum, then they can delete the link to the listing when they’ve gotten input.
@Garfield I used to have mine linked in the forum, but a previous moderator took it upon themselves to go to my THS profile and make small talk in messages about previous and upcoming sits which could have been read as a veiled warning. Totally out of line and they are now gone. And I have changed my profile here.
@Silversitters Under the GDPR, consent must be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous (Article 4(11); Recital 32).
Conditioning access to THS’s services on agreement to the use of personal data for marketing or promotional purposes (data not necessary for the core service) would invalidate such consent (Recital 43).
Members retain full rights over their personal data (Articles 12–23), including names, photos, location, travel history, and any information contained in their profiles.
THS cannot require members to permit public or promotional use of this data simply to access the platform, as this constitutes forced consent, which GDPR explicitly prohibits.
Any such consent must be separate, optional, and revocable at any time.
I couldn’t agree more. This proposal has been consistently raised on the forum but no interest shown by THS.
We are all agreeing when we sign up that photos of our pets and homes are used as advertising. If we are sitters then our likeness, first names and location are advertising for the site. Beyond that the information on the listings in many cases for homeowners woud be enough to find them on the web and figure out the exact address within minutes is public. Other information easily accessible to the public would be when they are likely to be away from the home.
The option is simply to join or not join. Another work around would be for homeowners to scrub a lot of intormation when you don’t have an active lsiting, but there would still be a lot of informaiton in the reviews. Sitters could use a nickname as a sitter and not link to linked in and airbnb and keep some personal details out of the listing, but the fact that datapoints like occupation and age could also help lead the wrong people to them.
Currently THS uses this open policy to draw in new members with free memberships where you can see all but not apply. IMO, if they went another way, and offered more privacy to members even as a tier, they could attract more members. Especially homeowners!
Hi @Icychick
I agree with those who have suggested that you speak to the police, if you’re being stalked.
I can see that a member of the team has picked up your ticket with Member Services, so you should hear from someone soon.
Jenny