
Airbnb has a hidden camera problem - Analemma_
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/03/what-happens-when-you-find-cameras-your-airbnb/585007/
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TheBeardKing
Airbnb allows cameras in living rooms as long as they're disclosed? I sure
hope that disclosure is extremely prominent to make sure I never book one. I
can't believe they allow that.

~~~
overwhelm
_Starting in early 2018, Airbnb added another layer of disclosure: If hosts
indicate they have cameras anywhere on their property, guests receive a pop-up
informing them where the cameras are located and where they are aimed. To book
the property, the guests must click “agree,” indicating that they’re aware of
the cameras and consent to being filmed._

~~~
skloff
This is in the top 3 requests I get from hosts while making floor plans of
their properties as a service:
[https://www.archibnb.com](https://www.archibnb.com). So far all the cameras
were outdoors, aimed at the entrance door. In any case, hosts want to be sure
guests understand exactly where the cameras are.

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waste_monk
Camera detectors are cheap (I purchased a combo camera detector (IR strobe
type) and RF Detector (0 to 6GHZ, overly sensitive but works nicely if you
retract the antenna and dial down the sensitivity) for the equivalent of
$15.70 USD + shipping through amazon) and easily available these days - anyone
renting an AirBNB or hotel room should get one and check the room before
settling in.

~~~
ericb
Neat! Link to the one you bought? Are you happy with it?

~~~
waste_monk
I believe it was this one: [https://www.amazon.com.au/Anti-Spy-Wireless-
Detector-Listeni...](https://www.amazon.com.au/Anti-Spy-Wireless-Detector-
Listening-Scanner/dp/B00W8V8XJE) (note the price will probably be in AUD)

As mentioned, the RF detector is overly sensitive to the point where you have
to turn down the sensitivity quite low to make it usable, which means you have
to be within about half a metre distance to the transmitter to detect it. I
haven't found any real bugs yet, but it will reliably detect mobile phones,
wireless access points, etc.

It is pretty easy to spot cameras with it, I have hidden my phone around the
house as a test and there is a noticeable glint from the camera lens when
looking through the filter with the IR strobe on, so I feel confident it would
find any real hidden cameras.

My only other gripe is it doesn't include an Australian power supply, so I had
to purchase one separately. Overall it's a nice product, obviously not pro-
tier but good for the price.

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Hackbraten
This is extremely disturbing.

The author may have cherry-picked a few extreme examples, and a majority of
Airbnb bookings may go smoothly. Nonetheless, after reading that article, I’ll
probably not use Airbnb ever again. FUD can be an irrational beast.

~~~
mythrwy
There was a case a few years ago of a hotel near where I live which had a
maintenance person also installing hidden cameras.

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stanleydrew
I'm not really sure there's a "solution" here.

Any time barriers to entry are lowered far enough that a market participant
doesn't have enough to lose by behaving badly we'll see problems like this.

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danielfoster
I've stayed in countless Airbnb rentals and the only time I saw a camera was
in a common area shared with other guests. This was disclosed. There is no
"hidden camera problem" on Airbnb.

As a (legal) Superhost I place a lot of trust in my guests and have never felt
the need to record them. Maybe this is because I meet at my guests in person
or have a trusted friend do so. I've never felt the need to record what is
going on. I am able to check my Wi-Fi remotely and see how many devices are
logged on, but also don't care to do so.

If you feel the need to record guests constantly you're either a) too nervous,
b) creepy or c) a commercial operator.

That being said Airbnb has put a lot of pressure on hosts to accept guests
with no previous reviews. They also no longer let hosts see guests' profile
pictures until after booking a booking is accepted. This makes it harder for
hosts to trust guests.

~~~
sparky_z
>I've stayed in countless Airbnb rentals and the only time I saw a camera was
in a common area shared with other guests. This was disclosed. There is no
"hidden camera problem" on Airbnb.

The thing about hidden cameras is that you can't see them. They're hidden.
Unless you did a full electronics sweep on every place you stayed, that fact
that you can't recall seeing one means nothing.

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jamestimmins
The article mentions Nmap as a way of identifying cameras on the network. Does
anyone know how robust of a solution this is, or if there are other ways of
ensuring that any cameras are found?

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mi100hael
Nmap can run a scan to find devices on the same network as your computer. It's
fairly robust at detecting/identifying networked hosts. It won't find cameras
that only record offline to a memory card and it won't find cameras that are
on a different network (like if you're on a special guest network).

Edit: for example, my home network has an IP cam. So when I run the following
to scan my home subnet:

    
    
        nmap 10.0.0.0/24
    

I get an output that includes:

    
    
        Nmap scan report for ipcam_00626E4E5B97_1.local (10.0.0.50)
        Host is up (0.023s latency).
        Not shown: 999 closed ports
        PORT   STATE SERVICE
        80/tcp open  http
    

From that I can deduce that 10.0.0.50 is a camera and serving some sort of
management web page.

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hadsed
Say what you want about Facebook, but at least they put an incredible amount
of resources into hiring humans to deal with their problems that require good
human judgment. They can of course do this because they basically print money.
What about companies who operate on thin margins like Uber and Airbnb? (Uber
at some point had been spending hundreds of millions of dollars on customer
support, to their credit.)

It seems that regulation is the only way to force investment into mitigating
these externalities for their customers.

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CaptainZapp
_Say what you want about Facebook, but at least they put an incredible amount
of resources into hiring humans to deal with their problems that require good
human judgment._

They most certainly did not do that out of the goodness of their heart, but
were more or less forced to after their platform was used as a conduit for
genocide, which they ignored for years and for other very unsavory and
partially illegal practices.

Most of the moderators are contractors, who make slightly above minimum wage
and have absolutely horrible jobs and work under dreadful conditions[1]

Using Facebook as some role model is disengenious, at best.

[1] [https://gizmodo.com/the-horrifying-lives-of-facebook-
content...](https://gizmodo.com/the-horrifying-lives-of-facebook-content-
moderators-1649825388)

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djeiendnjdiernd
Without going into too much detail, sophisticated operators of hidden cameras
are operating in a “golden age.” The examples caught by guests are frightfully
amateurish... the technology is way ahead of the common knowledge here.

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netsharc
Anybody want to buy the domains airbnbsextapes.{TLD} and forward them to this
article?

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us0r
Marriott also has a hidden camera problem.

[https://money.cnn.com/2016/04/25/media/erin-andrews-hotel-
se...](https://money.cnn.com/2016/04/25/media/erin-andrews-hotel-settlement/)

