Airbnb Works to Keep Indoor Security Camera Complaints Hidden — CNN Investigation
Photo Credit: Footage from Westbrook, Maine police showing a hidden security camera inside a bedroom in an Airbnb. YouTube/CNN / https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqQJ2FxB988
Skift Take
Airbnb loves publicity, but not when it involves stories about hidden security cameras inside its properties.
A months-long CNN investigation found that Airbnb has worked to keep thousands of complaints about properties with hidden indoor security cameras out of the public domain. Airbnb banned indoor cameras in March.
“A CNN investigation found that Airbnb not only fails to protect its guests, it works to keep complaints out of the courts and away from the public," the news outlet said. It does so by requiring binding arbitration in the U.S., and often requiring nondisclosure agreements for guests to receive settlements, the investigation found. [See video embedded below.]
Among CNN's findings:
An Airbnb investigations employee testified in a deposition in January 2023 that Airbnb guests generated 35,000 customer support tickets related to hidden security cameras or audio recording devices from 2013-2023. Authorities seized "thousands" of images from security cameras hidden in devices such as smoke detectors, electric outlets, and alarm clocks, some of which showed guests having sex or in various states of undress, or using bathrooms inside Airbnbs. Some o