Looking for a car to rent for a short ride? Not a problem! Nowadays, there is a rental car on almost every corner of any big city ready to be shared by occasional riders. From cars which you can book and drive directly such as Car2Go, to your neighbour’s car which you can rent via SnappCar. It is just as easy as registering online and downloading a mobile app and you can use a car right away.  

One user, multiple accounts  

The growing variety of mobility providers brings us the opportunity to choose the most suitable solutions depending on ours needs each day. The only thing is that if you want to make use of different available options, you’ll need to have a bunch of different accounts and apps. Which means you have to send in your personal data, your payments details and sometimes even have to pay a deposit to each one of the operators. This is not only a lot of hassle, but also means that you are not in control of your own data. You no longer have an overview of who is managing your data and since most of these new operators are still small start-ups, you may even doubt that they have everything well-arranged in terms of security and data protection.  

Data management is not easy 

For operators, all the administrative handling for creating an account is also a burden and this task is not per se at the core of a car-sharing company. Car-sharing operators have to validate driver’s licenses and other personal data and keep the data up to date. To do so, they need to connect to databases where they have to pay a fee per transaction. Due to privacy regulations, operators are not allowed to share detailed information about their clients. But the same regulations that are made to protect users’ privacy are sometimes an obstacle when drivers, for instance, make bad use of the vehicles. The fact that the data cannot be shared with other operators creates an opportunity for negligent drivers to switch between different operators without being chased. 

Manage your own data  

Wouldn’t it be great, if consumers could have full control over their own data and give access to car-sharing operators to this data once they subscribe for an account? This kind of solution needs to meet the following criteria:  

• High penetration of car–share operators: it will only work if most of the car–share operators use the same technical solution to get access to personal data. 
• (Perceived) privacy should be secured: if consumers don’t trust the tool, they will never upload their personal data.  
• Enrichment from other databases like Bureau Krediet Registratie (BKR) and Roydata: making all available data transparent and up-to-date.  
• Extremely user-friendly: consumers will not use the solution unless it is easy to create and maintain their account. 

We are convinced that such a solution would enhance the usage of shared cars for two reasons. On the one hand, it would make it easier for consumers to use and combine different car-share solutions. On the other hand, it would be beneficial for the car-share providers as well, as it would take away part of the administrative load and enable them to review customer’s behaviour.  

Author:  Wopke Geurts, Managing Partner at Faraday Keys.