What should you do: If you find a camera in your Airbnb accommodation?
Airbnb is an American online marketplace and hospitality service brokerage company based in San Francisco. Guests and hosts can use the service to arrange or offer lodging, primarily home stays, or tourism experiences. Keep in mind that when you are staying in an Airbnb, no matter how good the ratings are or how nice the house is, never forget that you are staying in a complete stranger’s house and when have we ever been taught to trust strangers?
Airbnb’s rules allow surveillance cameras outdoors and in living rooms and common areas, but never in bathrooms or anywhere guests plan to sleep, including rooms with foldout beds.
Of course, hosts have plenty of reason to train cameras on the homes they rent out to strangers. Unfortunately some hosts have more cynical intentions for what they would like to do with footage captured in their Airbnb’s. Some guests have spotted hidden cameras in alarm clocks and other devices in their sleeping areas.
Reasons why hosts have cameras in their Airbnb’s
1. They can catch guests who attempt to steal from the property
2. Have evidence if guests trash the environment
3. Catch guests who initially say they’re traveling alone, then show up to a property with extra people.
What to expect if there are cameras in your Airbnb
From the above mentioned reasons, it is easy to see why hosts would want to keep an eye on strangers they are letting into their property. Fortunately, Airbnb does NOT allow for hosts to have cameras facing beds, in bedrooms or in bathrooms.
If a host has surveillance cameras in their Airbnb, guests should receive a pop-up message on the Air bnb app informing them:
• Where the cameras are located
• Where they cameras are aimed
To book the property, the guest must click “agree,” indicating that they’re aware of the cameras and consent to being filmed. Unfortunately, some hosts have their own agenda which can involve non-ethical reasons for recording those that stay on their property. These hosts are the ones that do not mention that they have camera surveillance.
Rather be safe than sorry and watch out for these red flags.
Red flags and precautions to take in an Airbnb
• If you don’t receive a pop-up notification on the app regarding surveillance cameras you are entitled to ask the host if there are any surveillance cameras on the premises.
• It would be best to question the host through written communication such as an email or via Whatsapp so that there is evidence of the host’s response.
• Whether you stay at the Airbnb for one night or many nights, every night as soon as it gets dark switch off all the lights and see if you can see any small still or flashing lights. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a red LED light for it to be a surveillance camera.
• If you realise that the host is using one name for sending emails and a different name down the line, take this as a red flag, the host could be trying to falsify his/her identity so that the communication cannot be tracked back to the host directly.
What should you do if you come across hidden cameras in an Airbnb?
If you find a camera or cameras in the Airbnb that you are staying in there are 2 main people you need to phone:
1. Air bnb’s safety team and explain to them what is going on with this toll-free number +1-855-424-7262.
2. A family member or friend to let them know your movements and send them your location.
If you find cameras that you were not made aware of, the quicker you can get out of there the better (you don’t know if the host has a live stream and has seen you discover the cameras)
To keep your ability to act fast, unpack as little of your luggage as possible so that if you need to get out quickly you can save yourself some time.
In previous instances where Airbnb guests have found undisclosed cameras in their rooms, the company has refunded the traveler’s money, paid for a hotel room for the night, and removed hosts from the site.
Unless you are a tech savvy person that knows a great deal about cameras it would not be easy to know what the camera is capable of. It would be hard to find out if the camera is recording, live streaming, zooming, panning the room or tilting and changing angles.
The moral of this post is to ensure that if you are staying anywhere that you are unfamiliar with, ensure that there are no surveillance cameras in areas that would make you feel uncomfortable and if there are that you have agreed to being recorded.
We would love to know what you thought of this article. Send us your thoughts at siren@bluesecurity.co.za
Source
Fussell, S. (2019). Airbnb Has a Hidden-Camera Problem. [online] The Atlantic. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/03/what-happens-when-you-find-cameras-your-airbnb/585007/ [Accessed 27 May 2019].