Post by High Priestess on Apr 30, 2016 16:04:33 GMT
HEre is an article on indoor surveillance cameras at Airbnb listings:
www.komando.com/columns/356425/alert-watch-out-for-indoor-spy-cameras-when-renting-a-house-apartment-or-room
On a recent trip, I quickly rented an Airbnb private home that only after I was there I noticed it had many indoor surveillance cameras. It got me thinking. What’s the legality of this? Is there anything I can do about it?
Concern over hidden cameras is growing, especially when it pertains to rental properties. In fact, right now Airbnb is involved in a lawsuit over just that. According to the lawsuit documents, a woman claims that she believed the apartment she rented to be a private space, so she was frequently naked in the living room. Also, she and her travel companion discussed sensitive topics like finances and relationships that the camera’s microphone could have picked up.
Laws on this issue vary from state to state and sometimes, city to city. There is no overriding federal law. But in general, local and state laws usually permit landlords to install cameras in “public spaces.” This is an important distinction. Private areas, like bedrooms and bathrooms, or anywhere else that anyone would reasonably expect privacy are off limits.
In a situation where you rent a single room of a house or apartment, it gets trickier. Your expectation of privacy would only apply to the room and the bathroom. The person renting can put cameras elsewhere, such as the living room or their rooms, and it would most likely be legal.
If the presence of indoor surveillance cameras was not disclosed to you, the answer is simple: Pick up the phone and call the police. Tell them you have evidence that your landlord, or Airbnb host, is spying on you, without your knowledge or permission, inside your rental home. Use this exact phrase.
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Some thoughts: it would generally be foolish for an Airbnb host to put indoor surveillance cameras into an entire home/apartment unit they rented out to guests, given the liability which could ensue. Even in a shared space this would likely cause the same problems. There are some legitimate reasons why a host might want to set up an indoor camera, but I think the general public concern about invasion of privacy, as well as Airbnb's stance on this, generally makes this problematic. Some situations where a host might for instance consider using a camera: suppose a host has 2 unrelated parties of guests staying in his home, and he finds that some of his property has been stolen out of a common area, while all guests deny responsbility for the thefts. Or suppose, he finds that someone is continually failing to clean up in the kitchen after using it, leaving the sink piled high with dirty dishes,and everyone disclaims responsibilty for this. In such situations, particularly one where one guest or party of guests is refusing to clean up and is thus causing problems for another guest or guests, the problem faced by the host could be quite acute, since the irresponsible guest's behavior could actually result in other guests cancelling their stays, citing an unclean home.
It is actually not illegal to install a hidden surveillance camera inside common areas in the home where one lives, (eg the host themselves lives there) , without telling the renters about it. THis is not a good idea, but it isn't illegal -- as in the examples I mention, the host might wish to catch a liar or thief or someone who is continually failing to clean up after themselves -- something that causes problems for all guests. So the author of this story is actually wrong in suggesting that it is illegal for a property owner to have indoor surveillance cameras without telling the renter about them. HOwever, that said, even when this is totally legal, renters can still sue for invasion of privacy, and have done that. I know of a landlord who had this exact problem of theft from inside his home,attempted to solve it via indoor camera, and was sued as a result, quite likely by the very renters who stole his property from him.
ALso, Airbnb itself has a policy that prohibits using indoor cameras without disclosure of any such indoor cameras. So a host would risk having their Airbnb account terminated if they did this -- hence hosts who are having problems with guest theft or failure to clean up the kitchen, will have to find other ways of solving that problem.
GUests should not do as this writer suggests in this article, and try to disable any indoor cameras they find. Interfering with the host's electronics could get the guest evicted from the premises. Although if the guest intends to leave right away anyhow then that is a moot point.
www.komando.com/columns/356425/alert-watch-out-for-indoor-spy-cameras-when-renting-a-house-apartment-or-room
On a recent trip, I quickly rented an Airbnb private home that only after I was there I noticed it had many indoor surveillance cameras. It got me thinking. What’s the legality of this? Is there anything I can do about it?
Concern over hidden cameras is growing, especially when it pertains to rental properties. In fact, right now Airbnb is involved in a lawsuit over just that. According to the lawsuit documents, a woman claims that she believed the apartment she rented to be a private space, so she was frequently naked in the living room. Also, she and her travel companion discussed sensitive topics like finances and relationships that the camera’s microphone could have picked up.
Laws on this issue vary from state to state and sometimes, city to city. There is no overriding federal law. But in general, local and state laws usually permit landlords to install cameras in “public spaces.” This is an important distinction. Private areas, like bedrooms and bathrooms, or anywhere else that anyone would reasonably expect privacy are off limits.
In a situation where you rent a single room of a house or apartment, it gets trickier. Your expectation of privacy would only apply to the room and the bathroom. The person renting can put cameras elsewhere, such as the living room or their rooms, and it would most likely be legal.
If the presence of indoor surveillance cameras was not disclosed to you, the answer is simple: Pick up the phone and call the police. Tell them you have evidence that your landlord, or Airbnb host, is spying on you, without your knowledge or permission, inside your rental home. Use this exact phrase.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some thoughts: it would generally be foolish for an Airbnb host to put indoor surveillance cameras into an entire home/apartment unit they rented out to guests, given the liability which could ensue. Even in a shared space this would likely cause the same problems. There are some legitimate reasons why a host might want to set up an indoor camera, but I think the general public concern about invasion of privacy, as well as Airbnb's stance on this, generally makes this problematic. Some situations where a host might for instance consider using a camera: suppose a host has 2 unrelated parties of guests staying in his home, and he finds that some of his property has been stolen out of a common area, while all guests deny responsbility for the thefts. Or suppose, he finds that someone is continually failing to clean up in the kitchen after using it, leaving the sink piled high with dirty dishes,and everyone disclaims responsibilty for this. In such situations, particularly one where one guest or party of guests is refusing to clean up and is thus causing problems for another guest or guests, the problem faced by the host could be quite acute, since the irresponsible guest's behavior could actually result in other guests cancelling their stays, citing an unclean home.
It is actually not illegal to install a hidden surveillance camera inside common areas in the home where one lives, (eg the host themselves lives there) , without telling the renters about it. THis is not a good idea, but it isn't illegal -- as in the examples I mention, the host might wish to catch a liar or thief or someone who is continually failing to clean up after themselves -- something that causes problems for all guests. So the author of this story is actually wrong in suggesting that it is illegal for a property owner to have indoor surveillance cameras without telling the renter about them. HOwever, that said, even when this is totally legal, renters can still sue for invasion of privacy, and have done that. I know of a landlord who had this exact problem of theft from inside his home,attempted to solve it via indoor camera, and was sued as a result, quite likely by the very renters who stole his property from him.
ALso, Airbnb itself has a policy that prohibits using indoor cameras without disclosure of any such indoor cameras. So a host would risk having their Airbnb account terminated if they did this -- hence hosts who are having problems with guest theft or failure to clean up the kitchen, will have to find other ways of solving that problem.
GUests should not do as this writer suggests in this article, and try to disable any indoor cameras they find. Interfering with the host's electronics could get the guest evicted from the premises. Although if the guest intends to leave right away anyhow then that is a moot point.
