Help - Identity Verification
To keep Babysits safe, we require everyone to verify their ID before messaging.
Why are members asked to do ID verification?
You deserve to feel confident about who you're meeting. Whether you're a parent looking for care or a sitter seeking families, ID verification is required before members can send or reply to messages.
A government-issued photo ID document, such as passport, identity card, or driver’s license, is necessary for ID verification.
If you don’t have a government issued photo ID document, you won’t be able to complete ID verification. You should try again once you’ve obtained an official form of photo identification.
Verification is automated, and a failed check is not reviewed by a person unless you ask. If your verification fails, or you believe the result is wrong, contact us via our contact page and explain your situation. A member of our team will then review it, which can take up to 1 week. A person, not a system, decides the outcome of that review.
What does it mean when someone has verified their ID?
Members capture images of physical ID documents with their desktop or mobile phone camera and send them to Babysits. Machine learning is used to assess whether the presented document is authentic.
Next, members have to take a selfie. This is used to verify that the face on the identity document and the selfie match.
Finally, we check whether the selfie matches the member's profile photo. We also compare the selfie with those of other verified members to detect duplicate accounts.
We keep data from the ID document, such as the ID number and date of birth, and your facial image and face template; the photos of the ID document themselves are not stored after verification is completed.
Completing this process isn't an endorsement of any parent or babysitter, and is not an assurance that interacting with them will be safe. Automated document and face checks can be circumvented, so verification does not amount to a guarantee of identity. We recommend checking the ID document in person during your first meeting, as well as the document expiration date and date of birth. Always use your own best judgment, and follow our safety tips.
Is adding a government ID safe?
We take the protection of your personal information seriously. Your information is used for identity verification, platform safety and payouts. We have implemented strict security measures to safeguard your data, including encryption and access controls.
The photos of your ID document are not stored after verification is completed. In most cases verification is processed quickly, but manual review may take up to 1 week.
We may collect your facial imagery, ID number, date of birth, first name, last name, middle name, document type, document issuing country, nationality and address, as well as fraud signals and information about the devices that connect with our services. To carry out verification we use our service providers Mistral, which reads the document, and Amazon Web Services (AWS), which handles the face checks. Both process the images on our behalf and are not permitted to use them for any other purpose. To pay babysitters we may share babysitter IDs with our payment provider Stripe due to regulatory and financial partner requirements. We do not share your personal information with any other third parties unless required by law.
After you delete your account, your verification data is removed from our active systems within 6 months, or longer if your account was blocked for a safety violation. Our privacy policy sets out the full retention periods.