Worried about hidden cameras in your hotel room or Airbnb? Here’s what you need to know

A woman holds up her mobile phone with the short- and long-term homestays app Airbnb on the screen as others pose in front of the Eiffel Tower and River Seine in central Paris. For many travellers, Airbnb’s new policy has prompted some fundamental questions: What were the cameras doing there in the first place? And what are travellers’ rights when it comes to privacy in hotels and rental homes? — AFP

In March, Airbnb announced that, starting April 30, the company would ban the use of surveillance cameras in its rentals. The news was welcomed by those concerned about privacy.

“Cameras are both creepy and a threat,” said Albert Fox Cahn, the executive director of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, which has campaigned for a ban on cameras in Airbnbs since 2022. “People are terrified about having their intimate moments photographed without their consent and having owners able to monitor their activities within a rental.”