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Airbnb and security camera disclosure

jeffreybigham.com

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Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#371

Post by CaptainZapp »

woolvalley wrote: post #326
brokenmachine wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe slightly off topic but I don't get what the point of Uber driver reviews/star ratings are. The passenger can't pick what driver they get, so who are those reviews helping? I have a worrying suspicion that it's only so Uber can put pressure on drivers in some way.

Drivers get removed from the service after their rating drops bellow a threshold, so yes, it matters a lot. Drivers also tend to prefer high starred riders and might reject low star riders.

So essentially you can fuck with the lifehood of a driver with one lousy * feedback; nice!

Frankly, and probably to the detriment of a few ultra libertarians in here; I prefer a government regulator with established processes, a mandate and enforcement for drivers to observe rest times and drive sober and a requirement by law to be properly insured and health - (let alone background-) checked if you drive people around on a commercial basis to a completely arbitrary review system, which is a joke to begin with.

I can't judge Uber, since I never used and never will use it. But just about any other review system is rather unreliable. That 4 1/2* restaurant on trip advisor, which is mediocre at best? All those 5* AirBnb reviews for places where you have to tip-toe around strangers and find a constantly occupied bathroom? This would get a 3 * rating - if you feel generous - if that would be a hotel room.

edit : spellos and slight clarification

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#372

Post by pingec »

danols wrote: post #304
pingec wrote: post #260

Here is my unpleasant story from 2 weeks ago when I was in Bali. I had booked an apartment but the host was not replying to any of my messages/sms/calls. Fearing something was fishy I opened an Airbnb support ticket 3 days before my the checkin date. In those 3 days Airbnb support did not reply to me at all. It was a shitty feeling, I wanted to book another place but I had already paid for this one. 1 day before chec…

How many reviews did the place you booked have?

2

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#373

Post by blub »

0x8BADF00D wrote: post #367
woolvalley wrote: post #335

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's like contracts. When everything is good, they don't matter. They only matter when things go bad.

Or human relationships. As one of my old friend/coworker once said, your reputation is like a whiteboard. Once there is a tiny black dot upon it, you’re screwed.

Your colleague is obviously wrong. Think Cosby and Weinstein or look at the other AirBnB examples in this thread.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#374

Post by CaptainZapp »

0x8BADF00D wrote: post #213
philip1209 wrote: post #120

I've lived in Airbnbs full-time for about 18 months while traveling, and Airbnb has lost my trust repeatedly in terms of reliability, safety, and user-friendliness. - Host listing quality has gone consistently downhill. Now, it's many slumlords just trying to make a quick buck rather than support the original community idea or provide a great stay. - Airbnb support response times are horribly slow. They hide their ph…

Not sure about recently, but I’ve had the opposite experience living in Airbnb’s three months at a time when I was in between my startup and current job. My two hosts were very friendly, and I got on great with them. My first host would throw weekly dinner parties, cooking fresh organic food with vegetables she grew in her garden. When I was sick she would bring me breakfast in bed. Indeed, this woman was a wonderful…

The problem is that the whole model changed a lot.

Chances are much bigger that you wind up in some cooky cutter appartment of dubious quality and design managed by some management company that manages dozens, if not hundreds of such appartments and gives exactly zero fucks about your well being.

Experiences as you describe them certainly exist. My girlfriend had a great experience in San Francisco, but that was in 2014.

My expreiences are very mixed and the reviews are rather useless in my opinion. Since I had a couple of youngster neighbors turning their temporary (and illegal) sub lease into an illegal hotel I will not use AirBnb again. It's just too damn painful for the people actually living in a multi party dwelling.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#375

Post by mscasts »

timc3 wrote: post #220
mscasts wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well in Sweden (which is where I live), at least one case I know of where I man video taped him having sex with women in his apartment didn't get any repercussions for it since it's perfectly legal to film someone in your own home without them knowing about it. It is illegal however, to share that film without consent or video tape outside the apartment. You can video tape with your camera moving around in a public s…

I think they changed the law a year or so ago so that would now be illegal.

Really, I haven't heard anything about that?

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#376

Post by alkonaut »

chii wrote: post #315
alkonaut wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is appropriate camera placement in an AirBnB property? I wouldn't accept it anywhere in a hotel suite, so nowhere in an AirBnB property either. Step 1 to adapt my own apartment to be possible to AirBnB would be to remove any cameras.

Don't most hotels have cameras in the hallway? How is that different from having camera out in the property?

Likely yes. I’d say that’s the same as having a camera outside the front door (the hotel room being the equivalent of the whole apartment/house, not the equivalent of a bedroom of course)

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#377

Post by paulie_a »

cortesoft wrote: post #168
amerkhalid wrote: post #159

I never understood appeal of AirBnB. We used to travel a lot and thought AirBnB would be cheaper to equivalent hotels but it usually is about same or more expensive but with less amenities. For example: * There is no room service. You can order delivery but room service has certain charms especially at 2AM. * In hotels, you come back to a clean room at the day's end. * There is cleaning fee for many AirBnB. With hote…

I don't get it either. I get even LESS the idea of renting out your home. I hesitate to let close friends stay at my place when I am out of town. I can't IMAGINE letting strangers stay.

You hesitate at close friends staying at your place? They probably are not that close of friends. I'd toss the keys to plenty of relatively close friends with a "hey make sure the cat doesn't sneak out, he's a bastard like that. Have a good weekend, feel free to raid the fridge"

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#378

Post by pluma »

mscasts wrote: post #197
pluma wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're in the EU it does not. You can record anything you want in the privacy of your home but if you record other people, they need to consent to it. The reasoning described in the article "but there's a camera in the picture of the room so you agreed to it" certainly wouldn't hold up under any interpretation of the GDPR. Also even if it's your home, if you rent it out, that's a commercial activity even if it's y…

I live in the EU (Sweden) and here it's definately legal to record a video of someone in your own apartment. With or without their consent.

I doubt the latter part is entirely true, especially post-GDPR. Privacy law always depends on the balance between legitimate interest and personal rights.

Also this article from 2013 seems to indicate that while it was legal to film people in private at some point that already changed before the GDPR: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2040434/secretly-shooting-vi...

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#379

Post by paulie_a »

somada141 wrote: post #297

I'm about to embark on a nomadic trip so I will be depending on AirBnBs and hotels a lot. Can I just ask: If the host has not disclosed security/surveillance but such equipment is present am I allowed to run de-auth attacks against the cameras so I can 'disable' them temporarily?

No you just throw them in the kitchen sink and run water over them.

Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure

#380

Post by enra »

amerkhalid wrote: post #259
baby wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes no sense to me. Airbnb has changed travelling for these reasons: * It is cheaper for the location * It has a kitchen * It feels like a home I don't understand these kind of comments. Can you remember any of the hotel room you've been in the previous years? I can't. Can you remember any of the airbnb you've stayed at? I remember every one of them. There is a true home feeling to them.

Maybe it is different styles of different people. A lot of my friends who stay in AirBnB list same reasons for using it. Also they say that they like to live like locals when traveling. I can respect it but I really don't want to feel like at home on vacation. Hotels give me that feeling of adventure and travel. I have couch surfed and enjoyed it. But that was probably because I was visiting a friend in burbs without…

I think hotels are fine, if you just like to chill out. For me, hotels never gave much excitement, adventure or novelty. I hate the blandness of all the hotels, how all the decoration and furniture and even the people seem fake. There are good hotels here and there, but usually they are either old or small. Not chains filled with families of screaming kids. After fews days, I also want to eat some home cooked meals. In any part of the world, you get tired of the local staple and just want something familiar for a change.

I'd have never been able stay in such unique places the world with hotels. From a house overlooking volcanoes of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala, hillside a-frame in New Zealand, to design desert villa in Joshua Tree, a urban loft filled records in Berlin, a modern lakehouse in Finland to simple cottage near Denali, Alaska and many others.

(Disclaimer, I work at Airbnb).

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