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New York Subpoenaed AirBnb For All NYC User Data

Posted by Unknown on from the have-some-bedbugs dept.

Daniel_Stuckey writes "The war between New York City and Airbnb is raging on, and the future of the hospitality business hangs in the balance. The city is fighting the startup for breaking local laws against operating an illegal hotel out of your home, worried that hustlers are abusing the online service to turn a profit. To that end, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman just slapped the company with a subpoena to hand over the user data of all New Yorkers who've listed their apartment on the site, the New York Daily News reported today. That's about 225,000 users."

12 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. Look past the article's version of the cast ... by timothy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don'tcha love it that "turning a profit" is here characterized as "abuse"? And to be clear, it's not "the city" in the abstract that has anything against things like AirBnB -- nor is it guests. It's established hotel businesses, which would prefer the current low supply of rooms and the current scheme of regulation which lets *them* profit from the current configuration.

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    jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
    1. Re:Look past the article's version of the cast ... by jacknifetoaswan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Agreed. NYC has become such an insane town, government-wise, I shudder to think about ever going back. I mean, between soda bans, elevator bans, and their constant harassment over any business that innovates and turns a profit, like Airbnb or Uber, it just feels like Bloomberg and the rest of the town council, have done nothing but create a hostile environment for everyone. I love NYC, I really do. There's nothing better than walking through NYC on a cold winter's morning, eating a potato knish, but damn, it's gotten insane up there.

    2. Re:Look past the article's version of the cast ... by PktLoss · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I very much think the city can have an issue on its own, without the hotel lobby being involved.

      Property owners are learning that they can make more money posting their apartments on AirBnB than renting them out traditionally. It's in their economic best interest to hire a cleaning service, throw in some flat-pack furniture, and stop renting normally. This distorts the rental market as people who live in the city end up competing with short-term tourists for places to live. Cities want to be somewhere people live, not just somewhere people visit.

      AirBnB hosts also compete against hotels with a stacked deck. They're not forced to charge the standard hotel-night taxes, nor meet ID checking requirements on guests, pay commercial property tax, meet commercial firecode requirements, etc. I can understand why hotels would be angry, but they're far from the only group with a vested interest in the outcome.

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      paul reinheimer
    3. Re:Look past the article's version of the cast ... by Diss+Champ · · Score: 5, Insightful

      the current scheme of regulation which lets *them* profit

      You are spinning it the other way. Regulation are also costing them. I'm sure lot of hotel would be fine just not having those pesky regulation getting in the way (like you know fire protection, hygiene, using legit employees, insurances, ...)

      On the contrary, as long as the regulations exist and are enforced, the hotels are perfectly happy to include the costs of satisfying the city that they are in compliance (whether by complying or otherwise) by increasing what they charge people to stay. The more regulations, the harder it is for someone to enter the market and compete with them. They (probably correctly) see AirBnb as a form of competition, and are happy to use the regulations as a club to pound on the competition with.

    4. Re:Look past the article's version of the cast ... by Charliemopps · · Score: 4, Informative

      They are competing against people renting other peoples apartments. It's a joke. This is just like the Alcohol Distributor bullshit that's all over this country. Regulations are supposed to ensure quality, but they are quickly subverted and used by the industry to lock out competition.

    5. Re:Look past the article's version of the cast ... by Jawnn · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Right. The "problem" in NYC is "the government". No. Seriously. You are quite correct, as in "The government has become the willing lackey for doing the bidding of the monied interests who pay to have 'their' candidates elected." The blame for this lies with elections laws that allow such influence peddling and with an electorate that has failed almost completely to keep itself informed about the issues affecting it and policies of those they elect.

    6. Re:Look past the article's version of the cast ... by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The problem is a question of volume. In most sane regulations, there are exemptions for people who stay below a certain threshold of behavior. The idea being that if problems do occur, low volume keeps it from being a problem of the scope that impacts vast numbers of people. It's the balance that is missing from the current equation.

      Allowing for exemptions from regulations for low volume activities can be much more beneficial than requiring that everyone follow the exact set of regulations/licenses. A good example of this is the craft beer industry. The craft industry allows part-time/hobbyist level of activity which allows people to develop the experience and skills in brewing. Without this craft industry, I doubt that the micro-brewery industry would be even 1/10th the size it is today.

      One size fits all regulation which covers both true industry and home-garage sized businesses really doesn't work, and that's why we see all these conflicts with services like AirBNB and Uber and the like.

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    7. Re:Look past the article's version of the cast ... by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Funny

      At this point, I'm pretty sure that Bloomberg is just playing SimCity: Because I Fucking Can, That's Why, Edition, rather than actively pandering to anybody in particular

    8. Re:Look past the article's version of the cast ... by gabeman-o · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's not that simple. If you actually lived in New York, you wouldn't be so quick to say that AirBnB are the good guys here.

      I live in an apartment complex that has tons of rent controlled units. Regardless of your thoughts on rent control, it is something that is the law today and there are a number of strings attached. One of these restrictions is that it has to be your primary residence. There are people here who have turned their cheap, rent controlled apartment into a fly by night hotel. It is 100% illegal and I applaud the city for cracking down.

      Additionally:

      -It reduces the inventory of apartments in New York and artificially inflates rent for people who actually live here.

      -Operating a hotel is something that is regulated by laws and the people renting out space on AirBnB aren't going to adhere to them.

      -There are safety concerns as well, especially for those living in apartment buildings without doormen

  2. How dare people try and turn a profit by schwit1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    AirBnb, please tell the city to go F itself. If the city has a problem with certain property owners they can request data on those specific owners. The city shouldn't be permitted to go on a fishing expedition to prove a theory.

    This is just like the NSA demanding all phone records from Verizon with the possibility that only a few may be terrorists.

  3. Re:Probably cause by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, he can. It is illegal in New York to rent real estate for any length of time without the proper permits and licenses. Listing a room on AirBnB is prima facie evidence that you've broken these laws and easilly rises to the level of probable cause (with an "e").

  4. Par for the course. by runeghost · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Ignore billions in mortgage and other bank fraud, then go after the little people trying to make ends meet.