Live data from Hacker News

Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

theverge.com

281–290 of 527 posts

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#281

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience was such that it wasn't that way at all. The camera was indoors but not in areas of the house where someone would be walking around without clothing, and they were clearly disclosed in advance before booking, and they were clearly visible in the home.

Why would I not be able to be naked in all parts of the house?

because the example is that you're renting a room in a house shared with other people

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#282
post #165
post #22

I'm worried this ban will only affect honest hosts. Anyway, what Airbnb should really ban is hosts charging a mandatory cleaning fee when also requiring their guests to do the cleaning. We just stayed at one this weekend, and like almost all our previous bookings, the host asked us to: - Take off all bedding and towels and start a load of laundry - Do all the dishes and start the dishwasher (but required to hand-wash…

There is no situation where cameras are acceptable in another person's living space, so whether this only affects honest hosts is irrelevant; as long as it reduces usage, it is a good thing. Imagine hotels arguing for allowing cameras in their suites because they are "honest".

imagine a hotel charging you because when you obstruct the camera with some object, your video [profile data] couldnt be provided to a data broker

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#283
post #22

I'm worried this ban will only affect honest hosts. Anyway, what Airbnb should really ban is hosts charging a mandatory cleaning fee when also requiring their guests to do the cleaning. We just stayed at one this weekend, and like almost all our previous bookings, the host asked us to: - Take off all bedding and towels and start a load of laundry - Do all the dishes and start the dishwasher (but required to hand-wash…

I'm a host. I charge a $200 cleaning fee and my cleaners charge me $250, so I lose money on cleaning. I ask guests to: * Strip the beds (otherwise, I find that people re-make beds and it's hard to tell if they have been slept in), * Load and start the dishwasher (the dishwasher takes 4 hrs, and the cleaners travel to my remote house, and I want to make sure they can finish in about that time) * Take the trash down to…

As you spelled out your reasons, it makes sense. But usually, you don't go over reasons with guests, and they feel like the host is treating them as his poor relatives doing chores. It's totally different at a hotel, where guests feel like they're being served.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#284
post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried to hire a cleaning person recently? $200 will get a small apartment cleaned, maybe. For a thorough cleaning of a modest house prepare to pay 2-3x that at least.

For my small house (~1200 sq ft) the woman who cleans my house charges me $150, and she's usually here for around 2-2.5 hours. She hasn't increased her rate for me for over 10 years, so I imagine she'd charge more if I started out new. So in other words, even 10 years ago she was charging roughly $75/hr, which is much more than the $20/hr that grandparent was citing.

[deleted]

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#285
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People not turning on the airplane mode on their devices while in a plane. Sometimes they check (never happened to me though, but I avoid flying).

Modern mobiles are not using frequencies anywhere close to those used by the plane for nav / comms anymore so this is not an issue (though your battery will run to zero as it frantically tries to find a tower)

https://simpleflying.com/why-passengers-must-put-phones-into...

> There is another reason sometimes cited too for the early introduction of mobile phone restrictions, and it is related to the potential impact on cellular ground equipment.

> A mobile device operating at an altitude, and moving at speed, can see multiple cell towers at the same time. This will block frequencies used by these towers, with much more activity than they were designed to handle from ground-based devices. In the US, the ban on electronic devices in flight was initially put in place by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), not the FAA, for this reason.

https://www.faa.gov/travelers/fly_safe/information

> The FCC and FAA ban cell phones for airborne use because its signals could interfere with critical aircraft instruments. Devices must be used in airplane mode or with the cellular connection disabled. You may use the WiFi connection on your device if the plane has an installed WiFi system and the airline allows its use.

You'll note the FCC in there. While the aircraft instrumentation is the most immediate "reason for people to do this" that people can identify, disrupting ground communications is also there. Unfortunately, people are not that likely to do it based on "you'll inconvenience people using the cell phone towers that you fly over."

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#286

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, scam is the right word. It could pretty easily be rolled into the advertised nightly rate.

No, because math. As others have stated it can't be rolled into the nightly rate because it is only charged once per reservation. At least last time I booked on AirBnB it was clearly displayed as part of the total reservation price if you entered dates.

I stay at hotels all the time that don't do a cleaning on the first night. How could they possibly figure out the complex calculus of what to charge?

Oh right, averaging.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#287
Signed on just to say, like that Figma post garbage quickly moving off the main page... Forget AirBnB- These businesses lacked justification to begin with and followed the selfish whims of their boards. Abandon these paid dog food products and go out and build/support open replacements for them.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#288
post #22

I'm worried this ban will only affect honest hosts. Anyway, what Airbnb should really ban is hosts charging a mandatory cleaning fee when also requiring their guests to do the cleaning. We just stayed at one this weekend, and like almost all our previous bookings, the host asked us to: - Take off all bedding and towels and start a load of laundry - Do all the dishes and start the dishwasher (but required to hand-wash…

I'm a host. I charge a $200 cleaning fee and my cleaners charge me $250, so I lose money on cleaning. I ask guests to: * Strip the beds (otherwise, I find that people re-make beds and it's hard to tell if they have been slept in), * Load and start the dishwasher (the dishwasher takes 4 hrs, and the cleaners travel to my remote house, and I want to make sure they can finish in about that time) * Take the trash down to…

Tbh, those are problems that you have to solve, somehow.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#289
post #71

Not sure how AirBnB has a $100 billion market cap. The use case for an AirBnB, which is mostly large group travel, seems limited when comparing to the use case for a hotel (every other type of travel). Marriott and Hyatt combined have a lower market cap than AirBnB.

Airbnb has a PE of 22 and is a money printing machine. Airbnb makes 10x the profit of Hyatt, which has a PE of 75. Use case of hotels might be bigger, but it is a highly contended market. Airbnb has a huge chunk of a smaller market. Also, the margins are much better on hosting a website than building hotels and paying thousands of service employees.

On the flip side, Hyatt has billions of dollars of equity in real estate (which appreciates in value while not technically generating a profit), while AirBnB has an online marketplace. Presumably that's part of the PE difference.

Re: Airbnb is banning indoor security cameras

#290
post #22

I'm worried this ban will only affect honest hosts. Anyway, what Airbnb should really ban is hosts charging a mandatory cleaning fee when also requiring their guests to do the cleaning. We just stayed at one this weekend, and like almost all our previous bookings, the host asked us to: - Take off all bedding and towels and start a load of laundry - Do all the dishes and start the dishwasher (but required to hand-wash…

Why do you have to do all that, though?
Post reply on HN