The verification process is the main reason I won't use Airbnb. (Their main competitor, VRBO/Homeaway, does not require it.)

It's *not* the same thing as showing a hotel clerk your passport. There, they look at it for 5 seconds and hand it back - solely to match your name to the reservation. (I have no problem showing ID to the proprietor of the house/BnB/whatever when I arrive, although in practice none has ever asked when I've booked via other channels.)

When I book a hotel on Orbitz, I don't have to provide any ID to Orbitz. Just the hotel itself.

Even in countries where hotels are permitted (or required) to track the foreigners in their hotel by writing down passport numbers and sharing them with local police, I only have to do it in person at the hotel...not with some third party. And it's never done online as a precursor to booking.

Don't get me wrong: leaving a passport unattended with a hotel clerk also makes me a bit queasy, but I recognize that it's the law in some places and just part of the drill when it comes to travel. If all Marriotts were storing passport information and all Hiltons were not, I'd be staying at Hiltons.