I have reservations coming up for our extended family to stay at what seems to be a lovely home through Airbnb. When I reserved the property, the listing disclosed surveillance devices outside the main entrance, which was fine with me. However, the most recent review of the property mentions surveillance devices in the common areas inside the home.
The listing has not been updated to include the additional devices - if the review hadn’t mentioned them, I’d have had no idea until we checked in. Airbnb requires hosts to disclose all such devices at the time of booking; otherwise the guest can cancel without penalty. I’m still within the cancellation period anyway, and I’m leaning toward cancelling just because I wouldn’t have rented the place had I known. I do have backup lodging, but it’s not as convenient or roomy as this house would have been.
I’ve emailed the host, asking him specifically where the devices are, whether guests are recorded, etc.; no response yet. I’m wondering if there are additional concerns - can these devices access information in our laptops or cell phones, for instance? I might keep the reservation if the host agrees to disconnect the inside devices while we’re staying, which he might do to keep an expensive booking. But would I have any way of knowing the devices were, in fact, turned off? I appreciate any tech advice or similar experiences you can share.
Interesting. My brother runs an Airbnb. He has a security camera for his gate (outside obviously) as well as a camera on his kitchen counter to view the back sliding door. He’s away a lot and doesn’t have the house rented out all the time.
I know his gate camera has the ability to listen and talk. No idea about his kitchen one. I’m not bothered by them, because I stop into his house now and then for various reasons and it’s fine if he knows I’m there since, well, it’s his house. He’s even opened his gate remotely for me before… from overseas because he knew I’d be over there and saw me on his camera.
All that being said, I’m not sure if I’d be comfy in an Airbnb with cameras I couldn’t turn off. I think it’s fair to request they are turned off.
I would not be okay with this at all. Anyone so concerned with security that they are willing to invade another person’s privacy shouldn’t be renting out their space.
I’ve stayed Airbnb half a dozen times and always had positive experiences. I pick properties with numerous reviews and try to go with superhosts, when possible. This property has almost unanimous 5-star reviews, even from the guest who noted the surveillance devices. She said they didn’t bother her, but members of her party didn’t like them. Members of my party will feel the same way!
No one does, which is one reason I’m waiting for the host to respond. I’m surprised I haven’t heard back from him already - he’s responded to previous emails within minutes. It would be nice if that one guest was mistaken. She did give him a terrific review.
I recently stayed at a couple if VRBO s - I would not have stayed there if there were indoor surveillance cameras. Security is fine. But indoor surveillance is over the top - and frankly, pretty creepy.
I heard back from the host overnight. He says there are no inside cameras or other devices “when the whole house is rented.” This just increases my confusion because the only option on the posting is renting the entire house; also, surveillance in bedrooms or bathrooms is always prohibited. I emailed back for clarification. There’s no way for me to ask the previous guest to clarify.
Given that he’s clearly on record as saying there’s no inside surveillance, I may keep the reservation and then just shut off or unplug any nannycams or whatever they might be if we get there and find some. Still wondering if his devices can talk to our devices, though.
I agree that inside surveillance is a concern, and also the hosts’ fuzzy communication/incorrect listing about it. It doesn’t surprise me that some people don’t notice or don’t care, but personally I think that’s a little crazy. I am not sure that you will be able to turn them off or to tell if they are turned off.
As for him being able to access your devices, this would most easily be done if you connect to the house wifi. Anything beyond that would be pretty hi-tech and probably not really worth it, from the owner’s perspective. I’m going to assume you are not going to be calling or accessing your bank and providing account numbers and passwords over the phone or on your computers on your vacation.
Is it possible that during special events or other seasons this Airbnb has room rentals as opposed to the whole place? We have friends who do Airbnb, and most of the time it’s the whole house…but for special event times, it’s room by room.
AirBnB does not allow one to have cameras inside, could the device mentioned be either a misunderstanding (I see this happen on the owner forums I am on) or a “NoiseAware” device which does track decibels only? Hosts in areas prone to parties use these to avoid the rave scene.
Thanks for the helpful input, folks. His follow-up explanation is that the guest was responding to signage calling attention to cameras in the common areas, which he uses only when people in different groups are renting individual rooms. The cameras are removed when one group rents the entire house, and the signage is supposed to be removed as well, but the signs were still up this time. It’s hard to tell from the guest’s review whether she saw actual cameras or just the sign.
I’m waiting for everyone in our party to weigh in, but I’m leaning toward keeping the reservation. One of us has some kind of gizmo that’s supposed to detect cameras and other digital spying devices. If we find something (and now we’ll be looking), we’ll call the host and tell him we want them removed right away.
You can install a wifi device detector app on your phone to see what other devices are using the wifi. If there are more devices than you can account for (i.e. your own phones, tablets, etc. and known outside surveillence cameras), then you know to look for more.
You’re really going off the deep end trying to be an amateur James Bond. Equipment that can actually do what you’re talking about well can cost tens of thousands of dollars and require specialized training to use effectively. If it’s bothering you, stay someplace else.
We don’t rent our house out but we have dog/house sitters that stay overnight. We do have cameras in the house and disclosed to the company we use. We turn them off with the exception of the one in our master bedroom and office which are closed off to the rest of the house. If those doors are opened, I want to know.
There is no way for us to communicate with anyone’s devices!
I stayed at an Airbnb that had a camera in the living area (of a basement suite I had rented all of). I didn’t realize until I’d been there a bit. It was on the house rules/list thing but I didn’t read that immediately. I wonder if it was disclosed on the listing.
Yeesh, I wouldn’t be comfortable with that at all. Even just sitting around drinking wine and having a conversation would make be feel odd if I knew someone could be watching and listening from a laptop.