[imagesource:cnn]

There’s clearly not that much room for privacy with some Airbnbs.

Several victims have reported how their fun-filled vacation turned into a voyeuristic nightmare when they booked into their Airbnbs, where they are secretly spied on and recorded.

CNN‘s investigation brings to light how Airbnb fails to protect guests from these hidden cameras, with one woman suing the platform for the time she says she was secretly recorded undressing at a rental property. To make this particular matter more creepy, her images were apparently stored on the computer of an alleged sexual predator accused of spying on unsuspecting renters for years.

As one of the world’s largest short-term rental companies, Airbnb is pretty familiar with these kinds of scenarios and usually prefers to settle hidden camera cases quickly and confidentially.

However, now things are playing out differently.

When an Airbnb representative testifying at a court-ordered deposition early last year offered a rare glimpse of the company’s hidden camera problem, it was revealed that the company has generated tens of thousands of customer support tickets related to surveillance devices in the last decade.

Alarmingly, an Airbnb employee also revealed that when a guest complains of a hidden camera the issue is shoved under the rug as the company has no official practice to notify law enforcement, not even when a child is involved.

Instead, Airbnb reaches out to the host to notify them of the complaint, which essentially hinders criminal investigations because it gives suspects time to destroy evidence.

Hidden cameras placed in bedrooms and bathrooms show guests during their most private moments – changing clothes, being with their children, even having sex, according to CNN’s review of court and police records, as well as interviews with nearly two dozen guests who found surveillance devices at short-term rental properties or were told by police they had been secretly recorded.

Victims live in fear that those private moments will become internet fodder, which becomes even more chilling when you note some of the Airbnb policies that come with significant disclaimers.

The company’s website, for example, tells users they should not rely on its background checks to identify “all past criminal convictions or sex offender registrations … or other red flags.”

And even if Airbnb discovers a user has a criminal background, convictions of “murder, terrorism, rape or child molestation” are not automatic disqualifiers under the company’s policy.

A CNN investigation found that Airbnb consistently fails to protect its guests despite knowing hidden cameras are a persistent concern within its industry.

Read the full investigation exposé here.

Since most of the cases are from North America, the extent of any hidden camera problem, if any, in South Africa is still murky. But you can almost bank on the fact that where there is a demand, there is a global industry to feed it.

[source:cnn]