
How a flaw in Airbnb’s privacy technology could put 1.2M homes at risk - vermontdevil
https://hackernoon.com/how-to-rob-an-airbnb-252e7e7eda44
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khernand
I'm actually surprised with such effort the rate of exposure of hosts was only
40%.

Even still, this seems pretty sensationalist to me. I find it hard to believe
an organized service to "scam" Airbnb would be valuable to a host to save 3-5%
at the cost of losing the legitimacy of being a part of the Airbnb platform.
Furthermore, such a service would at least have the hurdle of being in
violation of the ToS of using the site
[https://www.airbnb.com/terms#sec14](https://www.airbnb.com/terms#sec14) .

Also, all of the numbers in the article assume the Wisconsin data set would be
representative. The article states less population dense areas would be more
vulnerable to this algorithm. So, why does it extrapolate based on only 84
homes in a more "vulnerable" area? The article ignores the fact that Airbnb
operates in countries that do not have the same laws as the US. So, not even
all 3 million homes are vulnerable to this method. This article is fishing for
a result that will make a good headline.

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mike_h
Am I missing the part where they explain how they tried really hard to make
Airbnb aware of this, before publishing a method to cause physical harm to
1.2M people?

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xkcd-sucks
Oh no, you can figure out an address by knowing a building's general location
and comparing photos to Google Street view/satellite. You can even stalk the
owner on public records/social media for even more info. Next week: the attack
works on craigslist postings too! And those photos you saw on Facebook!

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anindha
The loss in commission argument is flawed since potential renters can exchange
contact details with the owner beforehand.

The reason why I stay on the site is because as a renter I want some guarantee
that my accommodation is going to be available when I get there and as an
owner I want the insurance that Airbnb provides.

