People Keep Finding Hidden Cameras in Their Airbnbs (buzzfeed.com)

"Airbnb has a scary problem on their hands: People keep finding hidden cameras in their rental homes," reports the New York Post. "Another host was busted last month trying to film guests without their knowledge -- marking the second time since October that the company has had to publicly deal with this sort of incident." BuzzFeed reports: In October, an Indiana couple visiting Florida discovered a hidden camera disguised as a smoke detector in their Airbnb's master bedroom. Earlier that same year Airbnb was forced to investigate and suspend a Montreal listing after one of the renters discovered a camera in the bedroom of the property... Hidden cameras aren't just an issue for Airbnb -- it's been a hot-button topic in hospitality for years. There are hundreds of stories about hotels using unlawful surveillance. [For example, this one.]

Airbnb recommends its customers read the reviews of the host of any rental property they might be interested in, and also offers an on-platform messaging tool that allows communication between host and guests... "Cameras are never allowed in bathrooms or bedrooms; any other cameras must be properly disclosed to guests ahead of time," Airbnb spokesperson Jeff Henry told BuzzFeed News.
This time the couple discovered hidden cameras that were disguised as a motion detectors. Airbnb says they've permanently banned the offending host -- and offered his guests a refund -- adding that this type of incident was "incredibly rare."

Comments

Isn't Voyeurism a CRIME?

[Zurkeyon3733]

Cause I could SWEAR videotaping someone nude without their consent in an area that has a CLEAR expectation of Privacy, is a FELONY. Arrest The SOB "Host" and CHARGE THEM WITH THEIR CRIME! This WILL NOT stop until you do!

So why is it okay for web browsers to spy on users

[Anonymous Coward]

I think that most people are in agreement that it would be wrong for a B&B or hotel or motel host to spy on users/customer of the facility in question, especially when in areas where the utmost level of privacy is expected, such as a washroom.

These people would consider it even worse if any information captured by way of such spying was shared with unrelated third parties.

But why isn't that same standard applied to web browsers?

For example, read Firefox's privacy policy.

Firefox's very own privacy policy readily admits that it can collect and share personal data with Google and other companies in a variety of ways.

The September 28, 2017 version of it states (with emphasis added):

Webpage and technical data to Google’s SafeBrowsing service: To help protect you from malicious downloads, Firefox sends basic information about unrecognized downloads to Google's SafeBrowsing Service, including the filename and the URL it was downloaded from.

Location data to Google's geolocation service: Firefox always asks before determining and sharing your location with a requesting website (for example, if a map website needs your location to provide directions). To determine location, Firefox may use your operating system’s geolocation features, Wi-fi networks, cell phone towers, or IP address, and may send this data to Google's geolocation service, which has its own privacy policy.

On iOS and Android: Firefox by default sends mobile campaign data to Adjust, our analytics vendor, which has its own privacy policy. Mobile campaign data includes a Google advertising ID, IP address, timestamp, country, language/locale, operating system, and app version.

It can also send information to SalesForce:

Your email address is sent to our email vendor, SalesForce Marketing Cloud

And to some "Adjust" company:

Firefox by default sends mobile campaign data to Adjust, our analytics vendor

And to some "Leanplum" company:

Firefox by default sends data about what features you use in Firefox to Leanplum, our mobile marketing vendor

Some people will probably say, "It's not a big deal! Just disable it!". That's like saying, "It's not a big deal that the hotel operator has a camera in the bathroom and they're watching you shower! Just turn off the lights and be very quiet!". We can all see how stupid and flawed that argument is.

Just like a hotel room's bathroom should not have cameras or listening devices in it, a web browser should not even support data collection and transmission like is described in Firefox's privacy policy.

Browser data collection and transmission that is merely disabled is no different from a camera/microphone that's in a hotel bathroom and turned off. In both cases it's extremely creepy and any reasonable person would consider such monitoring to be invasive and totally unacceptable.

Re: Ewwwwwww

[JaredOfEuropa]

If you're really worried, get a decent RF detector (around $100 or so). They work like those bug detectors in the movies, you sweep the room with them to find sources of RF in certain bands. Also, some cameras (pocket photo cams or smart phone cameras) are sensitive to IR, you can test that with a TV remote. If you have such a camera, turn off the lights and use it to find IR sources.

Lastly, most consumer grade hidden cameras are in the form of motion detectors or smoke detectors. Or nanny cams in pluche toys. A closer look at one of these will quickly reveal the fact that it's a camera.