On Safety: A Word From Airbnb
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On Safety: A Word From Airbnb
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Re: On Safety: A Word From Airbnb
#2> Creating a dedicated Trust & Safety department.
This sure is where things start to get tricky in managing the organizational growth of a company. Something like this happens and the reaction is to create a new department. That's understandable and demonstrates commitment to tackling the issue at hand. But then another adverse event (inevitably) happens and people will complain complain that the "Trust & Safety" department was isolated from the rest of the company and that those topics now have to get mainstreamed (or insert other buzzword) across the whole company.
Just one of the many challenges that comes with great success.
Re: On Safety: A Word From Airbnb
#3From these efforts, I get the impression that AirBnB really epitomizes the Be Good argument (where Don't be Evil isn't enough)[1]
Re: On Safety: A Word From Airbnb
#4There continues to be a major point of conflict between EJ's concerns and AirBnB's position. In fact, the point of conflict is actually within AirBnB's safety policies itself:
1 - Private messaging that lets users learn about each other prior to booking, without revealing private information
2 - Reservation system that allows hosts to accept or decline guests, giving them complete control over who books their space
I'm sorry, but that just isn't consistent - which is, I believe, a major point EJ is trying to get across.
How can you have "complete control over who books [your] space" while not "revealing private information." It's so blatantly inconsistent that it just comes out sounding like marketing drivel.
The fundamental issue, as I see it, is that as long as private information is withheld, you not only have very limited control, it also simply isn't safe.
What are AirBnB's reasons for blocking the exchange of private information? Is it their form for DRM? Or is there really a good reason that isn't about protecting AirBnB's revenue stream?
Re: On Safety: A Word From Airbnb
#5There continues to be a major point of conflict between EJ's concerns and AirBnB's position. In fact, the point of conflict is actually within AirBnB's safety policies itself: 1 - Private messaging that lets users learn about each other prior to booking, without revealing private information 2 - Reservation system that allows hosts to accept or decline guests, giving them complete control over who books their space I…
Before booking, AirBnB does not allow you swap personal information, primarily so you can't go outside their system to make your arrangements. There are both financial and community-building reasons for this.
Once the payment has been made (well before the guest arrives), the host gets access to all of the private information of the guest. I believe they could chose to rescind the offer of hospitality at this point -- they haven't received the money, so if they are uncomfortable with the individual, they can still do something about it.
I know this is an emotional issue, but their response was hardly "blantantly inconsistent ... marketing drivel."
Re: On Safety: A Word From Airbnb
#6There continues to be a major point of conflict between EJ's concerns and AirBnB's position. In fact, the point of conflict is actually within AirBnB's safety policies itself: 1 - Private messaging that lets users learn about each other prior to booking, without revealing private information 2 - Reservation system that allows hosts to accept or decline guests, giving them complete control over who books their space I…
Let's say for a moment that AirBnB let you exchange private info prior to booking. You've then released you're information to a stranger who could do what they want with it. I've never rented with AirBnB, but sites like Homeaway do not restrict the passage of contact information, so I had to give my credit card information to a complete stranger. By bypassing AirBnB, youve no one on your side to protect your credit information and address from relative strangers. at least here, they were able to assist the investigation because of the payment and personal identification info the no doubtedly used to help the police actually catch the guy. yeah, it benefits AirBnB to maintain control of their revenue, but it is also a safeguard for all users.
Re: On Safety: A Word From Airbnb
#7There continues to be a major point of conflict between EJ's concerns and AirBnB's position. In fact, the point of conflict is actually within AirBnB's safety policies itself: 1 - Private messaging that lets users learn about each other prior to booking, without revealing private information 2 - Reservation system that allows hosts to accept or decline guests, giving them complete control over who books their space I…
Before booking, AirBnB does not allow you swap personal information, primarily so you can't go outside their system to make your arrangements. There are both financial and community-building reasons for this. Once the payment has been made (well before the guest arrives), the host gets access to all of the private information of the guest. I believe they could chose to rescind the offer of hospitality at this point -…
Can you elaborate though on the exact timing of the exchange? EJ's story makes it sound insufficient:
"Thus by the time this reservation was confirmed and I was given Dj’s email address and phone number, I was on a plane heading East, and he/she was armed with my welcoming instructions on where to pick up the keys to my apartment."
For the rest of it, I'm not saying that the response is inconsistent. I'm saying that keeping information private is inconsistent with safety (which is what EJ's argument was). This is especially true (and concerning) when they say that keeping information private is a safety feature, but it seems everyone thinks its a driven by financial motivation.
It's slightly frustrating when someone says "we do this for safety", but the reality is they do it for money and it reduces safety.
Re: On Safety: A Word From Airbnb
#8From these efforts, I get the impression that AirBnB really epitomizes the Be Good argument (where Don't be Evil isn't enough)[1] [1] http://paulgraham.com/good.html
That's generous of you, at this stage.
I'd say they got off to a rocky start on this (both in the initial response to EJ, and the subsequent response to the public disclosure of the incident). AirBnB could have tried to get in front of the story, but didn't.
I can chalk a lot of that up to a green team running scared, though trying to do the right thing. I'm reserving final judgment on this until more is known.
Re: On Safety: A Word From Airbnb
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
Before booking, AirBnB does not allow you swap personal information, primarily so you can't go outside their system to make your arrangements. There are both financial and community-building reasons for this. Once the payment has been made (well before the guest arrives), the host gets access to all of the private information of the guest. I believe they could chose to rescind the offer of hospitality at this point -…
Can you elaborate though on the exact timing of the exchange? EJ's story makes it sound insufficient: "Thus by the time this reservation was confirmed and I was given Dj’s email address and phone number, I was on a plane heading East, and he/she was armed with my welcoming instructions on where to pick up the keys to my apartment." For the rest of it, I'm not saying that the response is inconsistent. I'm saying that…
Can you elaborate though on the exact timing of the exchange? EJ's story makes it sound insufficient:
I used to work for an AirBnb clone wannabe, so I can't speak for the exact site itself, but the way ours operated was that you could cancel the booking at any point after it was confirmed- if you do it very shortly before arrival there were financial penalties to doing so.
Of course, if someone sends through a booking for tomorrow, or tonight, you're unlikely to have the time to sufficiently vet them. Perhaps people should be able to say "I need [x] days notice for bookings".
Re: On Safety: A Word From Airbnb
#10There continues to be a major point of conflict between EJ's concerns and AirBnB's position. In fact, the point of conflict is actually within AirBnB's safety policies itself: 1 - Private messaging that lets users learn about each other prior to booking, without revealing private information 2 - Reservation system that allows hosts to accept or decline guests, giving them complete control over who books their space I…
Let's say for a moment that AirBnB let you exchange private info prior to booking. You've then released you're information to a stranger who could do what they want with it. I've never rented with AirBnB, but sites like Homeaway do not restrict the passage of contact information, so I had to give my credit card information to a complete stranger. By bypassing AirBnB, youve no one on your side to protect your credit i…
I'm not sure where credit card information comes from, but there's a middle ground to the two extremes (AirBnB's where nothing is shared and yours where everything is). AirBnB can still process the payment while providing the other private information people need to truly verify potential occupants.
No one's asking for credit card details, they are asking for emails, telephones and other basic contact information.