London: The Norwegian key-sharing start-up Sharebox is signing up hundreds of online sharing boxes for its service in London.
Sharebox is recognised throughout Scandinavia as one of the most popular services for sharing keys. People who use Airbnb and Booking.com share keys in the boxes which hang up on the walls at hundreds of 24-hour 7-Eleven stores.
Sharebox manager Arne Eivind Andersen said: “We are excited about what people want to share when they see how easy it is to rent a hatch, add a key or something else and then just use the app to connect to a recipient.”
London is one of the world’s hottest markets for short-term rentals, and the company is beginning to sign more location deals with 24/7 kiosks, shops and meeting places every day.
Andersen said: “When we launched Sharebox two years ago, we were contacted by the police. When we explained how it works and that there is ID verification of all users with both their mobile phone numbers and credit cards, they realised that our system is thoughtful.
“People may want to share all sorts of things in our boxes. Most share keys, but surely someone also shares something else. We can´t control all the small things people want to share so we collect their data according to GDPR.
“Sharebox is aware that the authorities will monitor what’s happening when digital sharing networks go mainstream and things are shared between strangers.
“As long as you’re doing an honest business, it’s very safe to use,” he added.
