Facebook Removes Airbnb Host Group That Ridiculed Guests
Photo Credit: An Airbnb for Work guest walks toward a rental. Hosts in private Facebook groups have been violating guests' privacy. Airbnb
Skift Take
When guests stay in short-term rentals, they shouldn't have to worry that hosts might be sharing their intimate photos and personal information on Facebook, whether it be in nominally private groups or not. Airbnb, Vrbo, Facebook, and others need to be more vigilant so that their hosts aren't violating privacy policies on their platforms or elsewhere.
Short-term rental guests expect a modicum of privacy when they message hosts or stay in an apartment or vacation rental booked through Airbnb or Expedia's Vrbo, but too often, under the cover of closed Facebook groups, hosts share highly intimate and otherwise intrusive details, including photos, full names, and the sexual habits of their guests.
In nominally private Facebook groups such as Airbnb Host Community — Vent, Recommend, and Discuss, and Airbnb Guests Blacklist, hosts post photos with full names of guests behaving badly or those whom they consider to be problems. They also rant about not wanting to rent to guests who are Chinese, people who are more than 70 years old, retired women travelers, and other groups, for example.
In violating guests' privacy, hosts regularly post private guest-host messages sent through Airbnb on these Facebook closed groups, which have thousands of members.
Skift asked Facebook Wednesday afternoon about Airbnb Host Community, which
