Slashdot Mirror
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."
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."
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!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Cameras should be banned in all private spaces, not only bathrooms and bedrooms -- if you're renting the entire apartment on AirBNB, they should be banned in the living room, dining room, kitchen too. If it's not a shared space, people could be intimate or naked anywhere in it.
Also, if there's audio recording, there's a risk of picking up conversations intended to be private, which almost certainly violates the law even in states that have one-party consent laws.
The "hosts" installing the cameras shouldn't only be banned from AirBNB. They should be jailed and fined. Or just have their asses whupped by someone who rented from them. Violating people's privacy is a serious crime, and should be treated as such.
(1) If you're a coward, don't rent the house out.
(2) Don't rent it to people whom you don't trust. Use Craigslist, talk on the phone, meet them in person, get references. AirBNB is too impersonal to weed out the bad actors.
(3) If you follow rules (1) and (2), you shouldn't need to invade your tenants' privacy.
Or merely rarely caught?
Or - more to the point, sufficiently rarely caught and publicized that a company flack thinks he can get away with calling it "incredibly rare"?
Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
If you come across one of these, steal the camera.
The host won't dare ask where their illegal spy camera overlooking the bed is.
We had some illegal cameras we found in one of our buildings that we simply took down. No one ever asked about them ( and they were pricey cameras ) because doing so would be admitting putting them up illegally in the first place.
or just not yet discovered?
I find it hypocritical that Slashdot would publish a submission about surveillance in the hospitality industry being wrong, when this is a web site that uses all sorts of online trackers and "analytics" providers to surreptitiously monitor us!
My blockers show something called "RPX Now", and something called "Stack Sonar", and something called "Cross Pixel Media", and something called "Janrain", and something called "AlmondNet", and something called "Taboola", and something called "Pro Market", and something called "Bombora", and something called "LinkedIn Analytics", and something called "Google Analytics", and something called "ML314", and something called "SlashdotMedia Analytics".
Frankly, the situation here would be like walking into a hotel bathroom and seeing a camera hanging from the ceiling, a microphone suspended in the shower, three cameras looking up from inside the toilet, a camera under the counter at crotch level, a one-way mirror with a team of marketing analysts watching your every move, and DNA sample collectors build into each towel.
A treasure hunt to get free hardware! That's nice!
#DeleteFacebook
Makes you wonder how many places you stayed at (Airbnb's, motels, hostels, etc) over the years might have been pulling this kind of shit without your knowledge. I think I see a consumer market for a device that can detect these kinds of 'bugs'.
https://www.theatlantic.com/en...
#DeleteFacebook
A more challenging situation might involve a third party such as prior guest, cleaner, maintenance installing surveillance devices . The owner may not know. Recall in Japan sweeping services finding mainly mics often as electrical outlet adapters like USB chargers. First find them but next find out who is eavesdropping. Hall & Oates 80â(TM)s song turns out more insightful then I imagined except left out the public eyes too part and now need to get that darn tune out of my head.
I don't think foxes are religious...
Google employee spotted.
Mouse in your pocket?
Hm, if you plant a hidden camera, you can get a host banned for life (what are they going to say, it isn't theirs? Who will believe them?)
How much will a host will be willing to pay to avoid such banishment?
How much will Airbnb be willing to pay (as a bug bounty?) to avoid the bad press if it becomes widely known that they have had to ban thousands for hidden cameras?
How long until the pain and emotional suffering of their constituents causes politicians to decide that the Airbnb's need be responsible for the actions of their hosts?
On the up side it sounds like they were more senate candidate material.
People can (and do) deploy hidden cameras in conjunction with home security systems, for the purpose of identifying burglars or home invaders. A homeowner could reasonably claim that the cameras are only activated when the property is vacant. Considering that the value proposition of Air BnB is to facilitate absentee landlords, such property owners have a reasonable use case for cameras: to inspect the property via remote control after tenants leave, to see if the housekeeping service is doing their job. If the cameras are not actually running while tenants are present, there is no need to disclose their presence.
Hypothetically, if I owned a home in some far away place and wanted to rent it out via Air BnB, I would (at a minimum) have some sort of home security system to protect the property during weeks when it might be vacant. If someone wants to rent it and they ask me if the property is ready for visitors, I might want a camera system to help determine the status of the house. If I pay a service provider for maintenance or cleanup, I'm going to want some verification that they showed up and did the work. Cameras can do all of that, using nothing more than hardware already present for the security system.
Is there room for abuse? Absolutely. Bad landlords could hide under the skirt of reasonable use cases, and run the cameras 24x7. Even worse, the government really wants you to begrudgingly accept THEIR 24x7 cameras, so they are unlikely to provide meaningful protection from private cameras. Although Air BnB says disparaging things about hidden cameras, they don't want to lose their base of absentee landlords either. You can't have it both ways. The cameras are winning this battle, using expedience as a shield against privacy rights.
Does everyone understand the point of regulation now?
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
You realize this has the potential to destroy lives right?
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
If I was dumb enough to rent my house out to strangers, I would certainly want some sort of monitoring to keep them from, or at least be able to charge them for, trashing it. I don't think you should have an expectation of privacy when you are guest in someone else's home.
Of course, I would never even imagine doing something as foolish as renting my house out to strangers that I haven't checked out and trust.
...I lived in a 3 room rental area in a house with no keys to my rooms for 3 years, I had this weird feeling that the guy who rented it to me kinda stole my stuff.
I got so paranoid on the 3rd year, that I decided to purchase an ip camera (a camera that can send mpg. files to my mail address without a computer connected to the camera, in other words...totally independent of my computer). I set it up, and no longer than half a day during a sunday, it actually captured the guy in action. When I was out of my "rented rooms", he was there prowling my private premises. he was doing something funky to my clothes, I couldn't quite figure out what it was, but he kept running for the window to see if I was on my way home, and back to my closets just to continue his business over and over again. I got these mails at work (with mpg4 files 10 seconds worth each), unfortunately a lot of them was sent to me due to light changes in the room ...like the clouds passing by etc, but I quickly found a way to search the image files for file-size changes as the files would pretty much stay the same size if nothing changed but colors, but when there was detail change in the images - the files would get considerably bigger.
Lo and behold...he was there - rummaging trough my stuff.
So yes, you can't trust people - you really can't! this isn't just one off, I've had 3 cases like this, all with their own weird fetishes. :/
What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
Some people do it because they are perverts but most people do it to protect their property. Do remember that hotels also have hidden cameras.
Only in Russia do you expect those to be inside the hotel rooms!
Starships were meant to fly, Hands up and touch the sky - Nicky Minaj
I agree. Being an atheist is as silly as believing in God...any god.
The only two rational positions are gnostic and agnostic. I happen to be both.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
It is stupid.. turn off the lights? Too many people fool around in the dark, so the cameras I boght work via IR too....
What for? You inspect the place after each visit and since you know who rented it you know who to go after if things are missing or broken. If Hotels doesn't need this then AirBnB doesn't either.
they want them visible so a would be thief sees them and moves on to less risky targets. This is much, much more likely to be regular, run of the mill perverts.
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Just come up with one version of "God" so we can all finally agree it's all bullshit then we can all be atheist. Changing the definition of "God" is the ultimate moving of goal posts.
He's the guy taking the videos. "I didn't hurt you".
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
We have cameras . You can turn off while you are occupying the premises. You are responsible. You can help protect your stuff by turning back on when you leave. These are not Fort Know fool proof. There are none in bathroom or bedroom. An electronics sniffer would be nice. Here you go check the place out for yourselves. We will do the same. Why we require a deposit.
I have security cameras being installed in the near future. (I bought the Lorex system and am waiting for the installation to complete.)
I'm putting up several cameras around the perimeter of the house but also putting up a few internal cameras. Ones to catch the entrances to the house, one for the basement window near the power mains, one to cover my bar, and one for the entrance to my master bedroom.
I figure that if someone breaks in when we're away those are the areas that would be targets. The bar one is for when the kids are older and have friends over. I want there to be no question if someone started drinking when they are not supervised.
As for recording when someone is (hypothetically) renting the house, I would certainly keep them all on. What if someone breaks in while the renters are away for dinner?
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
I'd say it's closer to what air bnb explicitly would allow. Say per the rules, they can have a camera in the living room, so long as it is disclosed to the guests. You are quite literally aknowledging it's disclosure to prove it's existence.