
Virginia Airbnb guests found spy camera in shower - w3s7
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/warrant-virginia-airbnb-guests-found-spy-camera-in-shower/
======
Nextgrid
Remember that these are only the ones we hear about because they make the
news. For every such case there are multiple more that fly under the radar and
the customers get fobbed off by Airbnb support (which is what these scum
companies always do until their reputation is at stake).

------
cmdshiftf4
Search "How to find a camera in your airbnb" on DDG and you'll find pages of
tips on how to methodically search a space for hidden devices.

This in itself shows the sheer gravity of the problem with Airbnb these days.

It's issues like this, along with similar involving Uber (3000 sexual
assaults, 8 murders, 58 riders killed in accidents in 2018 alone[0]), that
have me _very_ wary of using services rendered by private individuals through
apps. The issues alone, nevermind having almost zero recourse if/when things
do go wrong.

[0] [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/technology/uber-sexual-
as...](https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/05/technology/uber-sexual-assaults-
murders-deaths-safety.html)

~~~
berberous
Those numbers are shocking, but meaningless without a comparison to base rate
numbers prior to Uber. I have a hard time believing that Uber isn’t relatively
safer than a taxi, given that every Uber ride is tracked and the police will
instantly know which driver to investigate.

~~~
GauntletWizard
I believed that too, until I worked at Uber corporate. They have a very
defensive stance towards revealing driver information - They would not simply
honor requests for driver information, even with warrant, and sent every such
one to their legal team to fight. Not to handle - to fight.

------
meowfly
I cannot understand the high appeal of AirBNB. It is obviously quite popular
but it doesn't seem useful for much more than certain niches.

My major gripe is that if I want to stay somewhere that has a high number of
reviews and a superhost the cost per night from my experience is comparable to
a mid-low end hotel (e.g Holiday Inn Express). Otherwise I'm stuck rolling the
dice on a newly listed property with very little assurances of safety and
cleanliness.

I also feel like in someone else's home I have an obligation to walk on egg
shells and treat their home much better than I would a hotel. I've spilled
wine in a hotel or created other damage and I've never been fined for it. At
an AirBNB this would be an issue I would fret over.

------
pedrocx486
Anyone has a mirror? My phone simply cannot scroll on this site. It keeps
going to the top.

~~~
Nicksil
Warrant: Virginia Airbnb guests found spy camera in shower

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) — A woman vacationing in a Virginia Beach Airbnb
discovered a hidden camera above her in the shower, recently unsealed court
documents show. More than five months later, the man who admitted to placing
it hasn’t been charged.

The woman told officers she noticed a reflective black dot taped to the
ceiling of the shower during the second day of her stay in July, according to
a search warrant affidavit filed in Virginia Beach Circuit Court. When she and
her friends investigated further, a small camera fell out, Virginia Beach
officers wrote in the warrant.

A man who lives in the house told police he hid the camera and collected video
of at least one of the women, the search warrant said. The device turned out
to be a wireless, motion-detecting spy camera and directly above the bathroom
ceiling was an attic with an entrance inside the man’s bedroom, according to
the documents.

The investigation is still ongoing, a police spokeswoman told The Virginian-
Pilot last week. Detectives are waiting for an analysis of items collected
from the house to be completed.

The man still lives in the house and told the newspaper last week that the
homeowner is out of the country. He told reporters police called him into the
department, but nothing else happened.

If arrested, he could face an unlawful filming charge, according to the
warrant. The misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500
fine.

A spokesman for Airbnb said the home has been removed from its listings.

------
tuananh
this is a problem with airbnb. for traditional hotel, this would never go
unnoticed.

~~~
frankharv
Virginia Beach has very strict laws for rental property. AirBNB does not
follow the law. They fight it.

