Airbnb Recommends Surveillance Devices

Want to know more about Airbnb’s new surveillance policy, or anything else? Check out the FlyerTalk forum page on non-hotel lodging services like Airbnb and VRBO.

In an effort to stop Airbnb horror stories from hosts—like people using the rentals to create adult films or to have wild parties, or guests leaving the units completely trashed—the company has officially begun to suggest surveillance equipment for use in rentals. (They’re calling it “party protection” equipment, though.)

“We want to help you protect your space, maintain the privacy of your guests, and preserve your relationship with neighbors,” the company’s website says. “This means helping you detect issues in real-time.”

And although they haven’t manufactured, endorsed, or branded any of the devices themselves, they are suggesting three different options backed by customer reviews: Minut, NoiseAware, and Roomonitor.

Is This Going Too Far?

Some privacy advocates say that this type of surveillance—even though they don’t record audio or video—is setting a bad precedent.

“File this under ‘that’s why we can’t have nice things,’” cyber-guru Ian Thornton-Trump told Forbes. “Controlling people’s behavior through surveillance reminds me of the panopticon approach to prisons.”

Airbnb actively suggesting certain devices may encourage rental owners to put in their own devices—that may or may not have the same privacy features as the three pushed by Airbnb. The suggested devices, though, are part of a push from the company to ward off badly behaving guests.

“Our policies have been updated to ban ‘party houses’ and ‘open invite’ events and to increase enforcement against reckless behavior and nuisance from bad actors,” Airbnb said in a release. “We will have dozens of specially trained agents supporting this enforcement and handling rapid response in our online and telephone channels for urgent neighborhood issues.”

Is it Just a Cost of Doing Business?

As we all know, one bad apple can ruin it for the rest of us—and with Airbnb, there’s an especially large opportunity for that to happen.

“Perhaps we have detected one of the cracks in the Airbnb business model,” Thornton-Trump told Forbes. “The problem is that the few wreck it for the many. When you rent space there is risk—you really can’t escape it. Either choose your guests wisely or run it as a business with requisite licenses and insurance. There are reasons why some things are regulated and will be for the foreseeable future.”

As for Airbnb, the company has specific rules for using the devices: they have to be in plain view, the renter has to know it’s there, and nothing can be installed in a bedroom or bathroom.