How safe do you need to feel in order to rent a room in a stranger’s home, or to trust someone you’ve never met to drive you home after a night out on the town?
Companies who get trust and safety right are reaping the rewards — the sharing industry is expected to skyrocket to $794 billion by 2028, an increase of a whopping 5,571 percent since it first emerged in 2014 as a $14 billion industry. This growth is being fueled by convenience, cost and the principles of trust and safety.
The companies that aren’t prioritizing trust and safety initiatives face negative repercussions ranging from unfair reviews to data breaches to a poor user experience. There are serious consequences if people get hurt or defrauded. But safety, and therefore trust, can be earned and cultivated through sound policies and practices.
Trust goes both ways in the sharing economy. Consumers trust that the company has done due diligence in verifying the identities of its providers (including drivers and hosts) and that their services are trustworthy and safe. Likewise, providers trust that new users have passed some sort of identity verification as a means of vetting (and ensuring the person is who they claim to be) before being accepted onto the sharing platform.
Research shows that consumers support identity verification. Jumio’s 2023 Online Identity Study found that 70% of global consumers would be willing to spend more time on identity verification when using a sharing economy site. To learn more, see our Ultimate Guide to Trust & Safety in the Sharing Economy, which provides an overview of the sharing economy, including the factors your organization needs to consider as you seek to build trust and safety through an online identity verification program.
In this guide, you will learn about:
- The sharing economy at a glance
- The state of trust and safety in the sharing economy
- How the industry is working to instill trust and safety
- Challenges with online identity verification
- Five elements of a successful solution
- And more!
Download the guide to learn how Jumio can help keep your ecosystem trusted and safe.
Originally published April 24, 2019; updated November 3, 2023
