Following several months of horror stories from users, Airbnb has announced a new companywide policy for all rental homes on the platform. Perverts are no longer allowed to set up peeping tom cameras in the bathrooms or bedrooms of their rental properties. Just to be on the safe side, Airbnb has also banned all indoor cameras completely.
Under the former policy, Airbnb homeowners were allowed to set up security cameras in the living rooms or kitchens of their homes, so long as this was made clear to renters on the listing. The cameras had to be in plain sight and were not allowed in bedrooms or bathrooms.
Last July, a Texas couple sued an alleged pervert who owned a Maryland rental home after they discovered multiple peeping tom cameras had been spying on their every intimate action. They found hidden cameras inside fake smoke detectors and even found a camera aimed at the toilet. The couple is suing the owner, alleged pervert Christopher Goisse, for $75,000 for “embarrassment, humiliation, disgrace, and loss of dignity,” not to mention invasion of privacy.
The couple left immediately and called the police. The cops confirmed that they found the hidden cameras in the main house and found another one hidden in a basement apartment that also had a renter inside.
That same month, two young women from Utah were vacationing in Miami when they discovered a hidden camera pointed at the changing mirror in their rental. A Welsh man in the UK discovered a peeping tom camera hidden in his sofa cushions.
These incidents just scratch the surface of all the complaints Airbnb has received about pervert property owners spying on their renters. So, all cameras are now banned inside Airbnb rentals. You have to wonder whether the policy will do any good, however, since the owners doing this are already breaking the law.
