Not sure I would agree to that. It’s one thing when they understand what I’m doing, and it’s quite another when they’re watching it closely. I was somehow watched, or rather, by my actions. With the help of SoftActivity, the management of the company where I worked supervised my employees. At first it was very inconvenient, but later everyone got used to it, for that they gained a lot of benefits thanks to such control.
Airbnb and security camera disclosure
11–20 of 406 posts
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#12That is kind of creepy indeed. In my country you are allowed to video tape inside your own home and I assume that right extends even if you rent it out temporarily. I guess far from every host does this, I would even say it's probably very rare. But maybe there is a reason to stay in a hotel after all ;)
In general privacy law seem to work under the "expectation of privacy", which is why you see signs warning of security cameras or monitors showing what they see. In a rented room scenario, you obviously have an expectation of privacy up until someone tells you explicitly that there are cameras in the space, at which point I guess you can decide whether or not you want to stay there. So in this case (and depending on…
I recently stayed in an AirBnB in Hamburg/Germany. Not only did he write that it's not a hostel everywhere. He used his smart home to keep the temperature below the legal limit and had all internals checked setup with cameras without any information. From the way he talked he also checked whether you exited the shower(not literally the shower, but the bathroom).
He also had Bottles of sausages and would check through the camera who used them without paying. He also charged 50 cents for those coffee pads and used the camera to check on it.
When I asked him to turn on the heater he lied to AirBnB on the phone(which they recorded) and then assaulted me and kicked me out.
His one listing was removed temporarily but his other listings are still there. So yeah, even a hostel would have been better.
Edit: the response from AirBnB was way better than the response from German authorities, but that may have been because they heard everything on the phone.
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#13Earlier quoted context omitted.
In general privacy law seem to work under the "expectation of privacy", which is why you see signs warning of security cameras or monitors showing what they see. In a rented room scenario, you obviously have an expectation of privacy up until someone tells you explicitly that there are cameras in the space, at which point I guess you can decide whether or not you want to stay there. So in this case (and depending on…
I recently stayed in an AirBnB in Hamburg/Germany. Not only did he write that it's not a hostel everywhere. He used his smart home to keep the temperature below the legal limit and had all internals checked setup with cameras without any information. From the way he talked he also checked whether you exited the shower(not literally the shower, but the bathroom). He also had Bottles of sausages and would check through…
I seriously hope you reported this to the authorities and not just AirBnB?
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#14"Will we be expected to review similarly complex documents/photos every time we enter a physical space? How can we avoid the illusion of consent that we currently have in the online world?"
You could start by understanding that when you participate in an activity that is attempting to extend the online experience into the physical world, that might be exactly what you get. Caveat emptor.
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#15I used to use AirBnB all the time. Lately I've switched back to using hotels almost exclusively. The camera/privacy thing is a big part of it. I empathize with the hosts to a degree - you don't want people doing outrageous things in your home. But the hosts want their cake and to eat it too. Don't rent out your home if you don't want the risk of people damaging it! (As a minor aside, I've also noticed the quality of…
An alternative here would be a meet in the middle type system where venues could opt into a private regulatory body that entailed obeying a system of rules and regulations, and accepting adjudications of the body in case of conflicts. In return, entities could advertise membership as a selling point, and the regulatory body itself could provide lists of participating entities to anybody who'd like to find, for instance, a higher quality BnB stay at. The system would be funded by entities paying a fee for participation, and perhaps also allowing membership for regular customers as which would entail various promotions and prioritization.
This generally would not work for areas where there is monopolization or where the benefits would be less visible to the consumer in the normal case. what I mean by 'the normal case' is that even a shoddy building won't usually fall down, so abiding and non-abiding entities would seem more or less identical until the 0.01% scenario hits with resultant catastrophe. But things like BnBs are perfect for this model since there is major competition for consumers and transgressions against obviously desirable rules (like no cameras in the house) are not particularly uncommon.
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As an aside, the reason I mention this as a desirable option is obviously not because I think there should be any hotels that have e.g. cameras in rooms. But rather because these things never just end at a handful of very critical points. Take food safety as an example. Obviously there are a good number of basic ideas everybody would agree on such as ensuring your hands are cleaned/gloved, that food is reasonably fresh, and so on. But as regularly organizations feel obligated to continue to expand, you start ending up with ever more esoteric rules. For instance in California if your dish cleaning sink for a food stall is 9 inches deep, you're in violation of regulations. They arbitrarily require that a dish cleaning sink must be at least 10 inches deep.
This gradual creep of rules poses an issue to people who are just starting a business. So obviously we all want hotels without cameras and food stalls where servers wash their hands, but on the other hand being forced to read literally hundreds of pages of legalese with countless 'gotchas' that can catch even perfectly safe and desirable products is something that can really hamper entrepreneurship, while simultaneously artificially entrenching older entities. Neither of which I think many people would think is a good thing.
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#16That is kind of creepy indeed. In my country you are allowed to video tape inside your own home and I assume that right extends even if you rent it out temporarily. I guess far from every host does this, I would even say it's probably very rare. But maybe there is a reason to stay in a hotel after all ;)
Your guests and family have an expectation of privacy IMO, unless you inform them otherwise. So, I wouldn't be surprised if your general right to video record activity at home was curtailed heavily.
The ECHR clause on right to private family life would certainly seem to curtail your rights (by giving rights to family/friends).
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#17Should have replied "Yes, I disconnected it so you wouldn't record our naked 2 year old.". Any discussion after that point surely becomes pointless.
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#18Bullshit reason given by the AirBnB. How is someone renting a room qualified to determine from a photo what kind of a device is there in the corner, or even notice. It can be anything, perhaps just a motion detection sensor or air quality monitoring or whatever. Also I do not scrutinize every single photo for details, but I read the description in its entirety.
These things have to be stated in writing and they should have it as a part of listed attributes for the room/house.
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#19Earlier quoted context omitted.
In general privacy law seem to work under the "expectation of privacy", which is why you see signs warning of security cameras or monitors showing what they see. In a rented room scenario, you obviously have an expectation of privacy up until someone tells you explicitly that there are cameras in the space, at which point I guess you can decide whether or not you want to stay there. So in this case (and depending on…
I recently stayed in an AirBnB in Hamburg/Germany. Not only did he write that it's not a hostel everywhere. He used his smart home to keep the temperature below the legal limit and had all internals checked setup with cameras without any information. From the way he talked he also checked whether you exited the shower(not literally the shower, but the bathroom). He also had Bottles of sausages and would check through…
The legal temperature limit for what? For paid accommodation, for hotels?
What is that limit; what law is it in?
Re: Airbnb and security camera disclosure
#20Earlier quoted context omitted.
I recently stayed in an AirBnB in Hamburg/Germany. Not only did he write that it's not a hostel everywhere. He used his smart home to keep the temperature below the legal limit and had all internals checked setup with cameras without any information. From the way he talked he also checked whether you exited the shower(not literally the shower, but the bathroom). He also had Bottles of sausages and would check through…
I seriously hope you reported this to the authorities and not just AirBnB?
It's Germany, and I have dark hair. When I went to file a police report the tall blonde police officer, he and his colleagues were mocking me in the back.
I ended up telling them off and will report it to the tax office. Which, while nasty seems to be only thing that will get that guy into trouble, Police at least doesn't care even though he violates a dozen laws including standard German privacy practice.