Booking accommodation on Airbnb can lead to unpleasant surprises, and some renters sometimes find cameras placed in the bedroom or bathroom when the platform strictly prohibits it.
This is the misadventure that happened on December 9, 2002 to Larissa Angaman, a 24-year-old girl from Diepp who booked accommodation in Rouen with two friends. Around 3 am, while she is going to the bathroom in the bathroom, she punches the digital clock. “Playing around with it a bit, I discovered that there was a camera inside and an SD card,” she explains to BFM Normandie.
Thus, he inspects all the accommodations with his friends and discovers a second camera in the bedroom. There, the camera is on a power strip on a piece of furniture. When he looks at the items on the SD card, he discovers footage of her in the shower or of the landlord replacing the bedroom camera.
An obviously prohibited practice
He then reported the situation to the Airbnb platform, which ended up suspending the accommodation and the account. Larissa Angaman also filed a complaint. Unfortunately, Larissa’s situation is not isolated even though Airbnb explicitly prohibits any cameras not mentioned in the listing.
They are also strictly prohibited in areas of the accommodation such as the bedroom or bathroom: “devices should never monitor private rooms (such as bedrooms, bathrooms, or common areas that are used as sleeping spaces, such as a living room with a bed) Devices are allowed offline as long as they are turned off and guests are informed in advance,” Airbnb’s terms and conditions read. Cameras are only allowed filming a public common area or entrance.
Look for suspicious objects
Without falling into paranoia, if you want to inspect a home you have to start by looking in strategic rooms: bedroom, bathroom, toilet. Also look for suspicious objects like alarm clocks. If you turn on an alarm clock and one part reflects light more than the others, that could be a clue. One camera has optics hidden behind untinted glass.
Among the most frequent fake objects (but real cameras): a phone charger, an alarm clock, a smoke detector or a watch.
A smartphone is also very useful. A phone camera can be a trick. It is necessary to turn off the light in the accommodation and make sure that you are in complete darkness. Point the camera at strategic areas where there might be a camera. If a bright purple point of light (actually the infrared motion-detecting system) appears on the screen, inspect that area. The same manipulation is possible with the flashlight function.
Look for suspicious networks
Similarly, the application fin detect nearby connected devices. Start by disconnecting all your equipment from the network except your smartphone. In the app, run a local network scan. In the list, locate the equipment in the accommodation that connects to the internet. If there are any remaining IP addresses, Fing may display the title IP Camera, which is suspicious.
Select each IP address and choose Find open ports. Fing tells you the model number, so it’s very easy to find the address of the interface with a simple Google search. There are other applications such as Network Scanner or INet.
In any case, if you detect an unauthorized camera in the accommodation, the first thing you should do is notify the platform through the Airbnb website or the customer service number: +33184884000 or another reservation platform. You can also file a complaint for invasion of privacy.
Source: BFM TV
