Digital trust in the sharing economy

What we thínk sharing economy platforms like Airbnb, Uber etc. are, is what they will be when they will start using blockchain technology, to connect different existing centralised government or corporate managed databases without violating the privacy of the users. 

Until that moment, these 'marketplaces' are digital meeting spots, where people, who claim they have something, meet people who claim they want something: cars, houses, babysitter or cooking skills ... Were you ever warned nót to get in a car with strangers?

For example: when you hail this type of taxi service, you might assume that the driver has a driver's license? That this person has some sort of authority over the vehicle (owner?), preferably that this person does not have a criminal record? That the vehicle is safe and insured, or that if something would happen, that you are insured too? You assume that the driver will take you where you want to go. The driver also can assume that the person getting in his/her car is 'solid' and not planning on hijacking the vehicle. But in all honesty: you do not know for sure. Even though the interface looks so pretty and is so user-friendly. You are nothing more than a beautifully designed dot in the app.

When you stay in an apartment, that you booked on a sharing economy marketplace, how do you know it exist in the first place? It's not fun to find out that your "entire house in the vibrant center of Singapore" is nothing more than a parking lot. Again, how do you know if that apartment is safe and insured? Who has the key, besides you? I can tell you that a lot of keys can be duplicated easily (takes less than 1 hour, at some stores). Luckily, at lot of hosts are updating the locks to electronic key pads. But the problems stays the same. How many people know your code? Luckily, my worst experiences were limited to 1. not getting into the apartment because the key did not fit (True story: this happened at 1 am in Copenhagen. It was sooooo much fun finding a hotel at that time of night, that had a free room) and 2. cockroaches.

Assumption is the mother of all f*ck-ups. (Under Siege II)

I'm based in Belgium, and I just tried to create a fake account on one of these platforms. After having downloaded a few fake images, I was able to create a fake account, in less than 8 minutes (I made a screen video to prove it). I was not asked once to prove my identity or ownership. Not 1 official document was asked, to create this account. 

FYI: I've been a heavy user of these platforms, because I believe in the 'good' in people, but I have been in a few situations that gave me a serious scare, so I'm very aware of the dangers and I stay alert. I also see that the people behind these sharing economy platforms are trying to verify certain information. (It just makes me wonder if the reason for that is more related to their liability ...)

Uber is present in the Belgian market, but not for their taxi services. In Brussels f.e. you can find the Jump bikes, and in the university city of Louvain a lot of students make some extra money delivering food through Uber Eats.

Our government has different useful databases that could be connected with with blockchain without 'giving away' the full details of the data in that database to any other party. We have a national database of people with a driver's license. A database of citizens with or without a criminal record. A database with all the registered cars in Belgium. Our insurance companies know which cars are insured, and to what extend. A lot of valuable data is available, but all these centralised databases are not connected, and that's exactly who sharing economy platforms need, to ensure (a least the bare minimum of) safety of their users.

According to the World Economic Forum, governments will be in the lead of adopting and implementing the technologies (such as blockchain) that are driving the 4th industrial revolution, well, I'm very much looking forward to dealing with issues like this. The tools are available! :-)