Gizmodo Reports Airbnb ‘Agrees to Rat Out Its Hosts Like NYC Wants It To’

In New York City, Airbnb “has agreed to hand over personal data about its hosts — like their phone numbers and email addresses, along with a full list of every home they’re putting on the platform — in order to help city authorities track down those that flout the city’s regulations,” reports Gizmodo. The city is Airbnb’s largest market in the U.S. — but city officials have estimated that up to 35,000 listings were violating a law preventing short-term rentals of apartments that don’t have tenants.
The heat between Airbnb and New York heated up roughly two years ago, when officials passed another local law forcing home-rental companies like Airbnb to disclose data about their hosts on a regular basis, which would shine a spotlight on any that were, say, caught renting out more space than they legally ought to. In return, Airbnb and Homeaway, another short-stay platform, fired back with a lawsuit of their own, which gleaned the favor of local judges last summer. According to Bloomberg, the battle has since simmered down in the form of a private settlement between the two companies and the city of New York. Both agreed to share information on a quarterly basis, rather than the month-by-month arrangements first pushed by the regulators in question. Information shared includes the host’s full name and address, along with their contact information and income generated on either platform — not to mention information about every listing they’re putting up at any given time.