Verifying your identity with Hookhub

Verifying the identity of guests and hosts helps us to:

We require primary Hosts and booking guests to be verified for all stays on Hookhub. Verifying your identity means verifying certain personal information, such as your legal name, address, phone number or other contact details. In some cases, we can do this without any additional info needed from you. In other cases, we may need to ask for more information, as described below. In the US, some users may be able to choose to use facial recognition technology – also known as facial recognition– to complete identity verification. Don’t worry – any identity information you provide outside of your name won’t be shared with any Hosts or guests on Hookhub, and will be handled according to our Privacy Policy.

As a guest, you’ll need to verify your identity when you book your first stay. Most users only need to do this once, and we’ll guide you through any steps you’ll need to take.

If you’re getting started as a Host, you’ll need to verify your identity when creating your first listing.While there’s no time limit for hosts to complete verification, your listing won’t be published until you finish.

Lastly, if you need to edit your legal name we’ll also ask you to re-verify your identity. We may be able to do this instantly using information you’ve already provided us, such as your name and contact details – or you might be asked to complete other verification steps. When this happens, any existing trips you’ve booked won’t be affected, but you won’t be able to make a new booking until we verify that change. As a Host, your existing bookings also won’t be affected, but your calendar will be blocked until you complete verification.

After you submit your info, it typically takes less than 10 minutes to verify your identity. This may differ based on what info you provided.

Make sure the info you provide is valid, accurate and up to date. Otherwise, it could take us longer to verify you, or we might need to follow up and request additional info.

Hookhub doesn’t share your government ID with a Host when you book. However, your Host may ask for a government ID after booking if they added information about what is required and why in their listing description at the time you booked – and only where required for legal or compliance reasons.

We are a community built on trust. A fundamental part of earning that trust means being clear about how we use your information.

Only authorized Hookhub personnel and authorized third-party providers may access the information you submit, and all info is stored and transmitted in a secure manner. We share your identification information with authorized third-party service providers to help support the identity verification process—including such things as verifying your identity, authenticating your identification documents, and performing background checks (where permitted under applicable law).

We delete your Government ID after a prescribed retention period relating to the purpose it was collected for has elapsed – unless we’re legally required to retain it. Note that after your ID has been deleted, we continue to retain some information from it – such as your date of birth – for the management of your account, legal compliance, and general security purposes. 

We handle the information collected during identity verification for purposes outlined in our Privacy Policy.