Airbnb will soon ban hosts from watching their guests with indoor security cameras, as the company is reversing course on its surveillance policies.
As of April 30, hosts around the world must remove indoor cameras and disclose other outdoor monitoring tech to guests before they book. Airbnb previously allowed hosts to install security cameras in common areas of a home, like hallways and living rooms. But it also required hosts to disclose them, make them clearly visible, and keep the cameras out of places like sleeping areas and bathrooms.
Still, the cameras have been an issue. Guests have reported encountering hidden cameras in their short-term rentals. For hosts, the cameras can be a way to discourage guests from throwing large parties or to stop the gatherings before they become too disruptive. It’s a big enough concern that several companies have started making noise monitoring tech, billing themselves as solutions to protect short-term rentals.
But guests see them as an invasion of privacy—a watching eye intruding on their vacation.
“We’re really grateful that Airbnb listened to those of us pushing back and calling for them to actually put safety and privacy first,” says Albert Fox Cahn, founder and executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, a pro-privacy organization.
In its announcement, Airbnb said that the majority of its listings do not mention a security camera, so the rule change may not affect most listings. Vrbo, another short-term rental platform, already banned the use of visual and audio surveillance inside of properties.
