No Room For Privacy: How Airbnb Fails To Protect Guests From Hidden Cameras

Another victim filed a lawsuit after her fun-filled vacation turned into a voyeuristic nightmare: A woman was secretly caught undressing at a rental property, and her photographs were saved on the computer of an alleged sexual predator accused of spying on unsuspecting renters for years.

Airbnb, one of the world’s leading short-term rental providers, has encountered this situation before. Typically, the company works to resolve hidden camera instances quickly and confidentially.

Airbnb | CNN Image

No Room For Privacy: How Airbnb Fails To Protect Guests From Hidden Cameras

But this one turned out differently.

An Airbnb representative testified at a court-ordered deposition early last year, providing a rare glimpse into the company’s hidden camera problem: Over the previous decade, Airbnb has received tens of thousands of customer support calls related to surveillance equipment.

During the hours-long deposition, the Airbnb employee also stated that when a guest complains about a concealed camera, the company does not typically alert law police, even when a child is involved. The business may, however, contact hosts about complaints as part of internal investigations, which law enforcement experts warn could impede criminal investigations by giving suspects time to erase evidence.

A CNN investigation discovered that Airbnb regularly fails to protect its visitors despite knowing that hidden cameras are a recurrent issue in the industry. Airbnb’s corporate practices have also tried to prevent regulation of the short-term rental sector, allowing the corporation to avoid responsibility for guest safety and privacy.

Law enforcement officers recovered thousands of pictures from short-term rental hosts. According to CNN’s review of court and police records, as well as interviews with nearly two dozen guests who discovered surveillance devices at short-term rental properties or were informed by police that they had been secretly recorded, hidden cameras placed in bedrooms and bathrooms show guests during their most private moments – changing clothes, being with their children, and even having sex.

Victims say they live in terror that their intimate moments will become online fodder.

“This is neither my Social Security number nor my email address. “This is my naked body,” remarked one woman, whose host secretly recorded her having sex with her spouse in a Texas cottage.

Airbnb denied CNN’s request for an interview. However, in a written statement, a representative stated that hidden camera complaints are uncommon, but when they occur, “we take appropriate, swift action, which can include removing hosts and listings that violate the policy.”

The representative continued: “Airbnb’s trust and safety policies lead the vacation rental industry and include background checks on US-based hosts and guests.”

CNN discovered that several of Airbnb’s policies include considerable disclaimers.

The company’s website warns consumers against relying on its background checks to identify “all past criminal convictions or sex offender registrations … or other red flags.”

Even if Airbnb discovers a user’s criminal history, convictions for “murder, terrorism, rape, or child molestation” do not automatically disqualify them under the company’s policy.

‘The Wild West’
Brian Chesky was unemployed when he and his roommate came up with the idea for Airbnb in 2007 while trying to pay rent in San Francisco. They opened their home to three guests for $80 per night, providing them with air beds, breakfast, and WiFi. They named their startup Air Bed and Breakfast. Thirteen years later, the business went public with the greatest IPO of 2020, valued at $47 billion.

Today, Airbnb, worth more than Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Marriott International combined, continues to pursue the benefits of being a global hotel chain while bearing few expenses or obligations.

Unlike hotels, Airbnb does not own the properties it promotes or employs on-site personnel such as security guards, receptionists, or cleaners. Instead, it shifts the burden of maintaining and protecting short-term rentals to hosts.

And although hotels can be held legally liable for visitor injuries on their premises, Airbnb typically does not. Airbnb has battled such liability in court, claiming it has little influence over what happens at its listings while earning approximately 17% of each booking.

The multibillion-dollar short-term rental sector paints a bright picture, with commercials emphasizing how home sharing fosters human connection and provides intimate, private settings for busy travelers.

Nonetheless, violent crime, prostitution, and visitor deaths have regularly thrust Airbnb and its competitors into the international spotlight.

Hidden cameras are a security problem that Airbnb and the rest of the short-term rental business have mostly overlooked. Airbnb has been aware of the problem for at least a decade, and the firm has periodically informed its shareholders about it in annual reports since going public.

“We were aware of it; there were a large number of cases coming in,” claimed one former Airbnb employee who requested anonymity owing to a non-disclosure agreement with the company. The employee, whose team dealt with safety and privacy issues, stated that hidden cameras were one of the group’s main worries.

Despite these concerns, the corporation enabled hosts to monitor communal areas via video surveillance for years, as long as the cameras were revealed to visitors.

Chloe LeBrument, who visited London, Ontario, with her fiancé for a music festival last summer, discovered a camera placed in a charger in the bedroom of an Airbnb apartment.

Airbnb | Pixa Bay Image

No Room For Privacy: How Airbnb Fails To Protect Guests From Hidden Cameras

LeBrument, whose host has been charged with voyeurism, believes many guests left the room unaware they were being recorded. LeBrument expressed anger and disappointment at the encounter.

“It felt really gross,” she explained.

In January, CNN began contacting former Airbnb employees to inquire about hidden camera concerns in the sector. In early March, Saturday Night Live parodied the issue’s prevalence in a spoof. Just over a week later, the business announced a ban on all indoor cameras beginning April 30. The corporation did not explain how it would force hosts to follow the guidelines.

Attorney Bianca Zuniga-Goldwater, who represents victims of hidden cameras in lawsuits against Airbnb and Vrbo, warns that if standards are not enforced, it’s similar to the Wild West.

CNN examined more than a dozen police investigations and lawsuits in the United States involving at least 75 victims and discovered that Airbnb frequently moves quickly to restrict user concerns and resolve them outside of court.

SOURCE | CNN