Cases of tenants of the Airbnb platform filmed without their knowledge have multiplied in recent years, calling into question a model whose lack of frank legal response benefits voyeur hosts.
This is, alas, one of the abuses of the online private accommodation rental system, embodied by its major player Airbnb. If no official figure circulates, the testimonies of traumatized women follow one another. Our colleagues from Release collected one of them, putting their finger on a sad practice of privacy violation that is not adequately covered by law today.
The testimonials abound
Two years ago, a young woman offered her husband a night in a small town in the Allier. Six months later, she was surprised to receive a summons from the gendarmerie, informing her that the individual who rented the accommodation had hidden several cameras in it. The gendarmes then invited her to join the other complaints, all denouncing the presence of cameras. ” The gendarmes identified us on several videos. I cried when I saw myself naked coming out of the shower “, she testifies.
In May 2021, the owner was found guilty of invasion of privacy, with a suspended sentence of twelve months in prison. In addition, he was banned from carrying out any hotel-related activity for five years. But here we are far from the isolated case. The voyeurs who rent their accommodation do not lack imagination to hide small cameras, which are used to spy on the users of the platform.
Earlier, in April 2017, a 36-year-old man was given a three-month suspended prison sentence for having filmed several naked women, without their knowledge, in his rental accommodation on Airbnb. In 2018, it was a man in his sixties who was caught renting his apartment to Colombians and Russians under cover of the Erasmus program. Then in 2020, a 59-year-old man was convicted of hiding a camera in his bathroom, which saw 159 travelers pass over a two-year period. He then spoke of his sexual distress after a difficult divorce. Even more recently, on the night of December 11, 2022, a couple came across a camera in an accommodation in Rouen, hidden in the clock pointed towards the bathroom. The couple recovered the camera and the SD card to file a complaint. On the day of the complaint, Airbnb removed the ad from its platform and suspended the owner’s account.
A practice of voyeurism and breach of privacy in theory severely sanctioned by law
This list is obviously not exhaustive, and the observation is the same each time: the defendants escape prison. However, article 226-2-1 of the Criminal Code lays down the principle of a possible sentence of up to 2 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 60,000 euros, in the event that a host is sentenced for having illegally received pictures of naked people. The legal arsenal seems insufficient. In Quebec (all countries hosting Airbnb are witnessing this problem), there is even talk of a ” social scourge whose magnitude is directly proportional to the evolution of technology “.
In France, we do not have figures on this voyeurism 2.0 and this digital delinquency. The latest data dates back to 2017, with 857 such offenses recorded in that year alone. Stuck in a smoke detector, in the mirror, in a lamp or an alarm clock… cameras are installed almost everywhere, concealment techniques are not lacking and other, even more serious abuses can result from this espionage.
We can thus mention the case of videos that end up online and which, if hosted on servers located in certain foreign countries, are difficult to reach for French courts. Some children may be filmed without their knowledge, which then constitutes a child pornography offence. And the victims can suffer serious psychological consequences. In Caen, a clinical psychologist is currently following eight young patients, aged 21 to 26, who were illegally filmed in an Airbnb. The American firm specifies, in its regulations, that it is obviously forbidden to activate surveillance devices in private rooms (bedroom, bathroom, common areas). The law too. But that does not prevent voyeurs from cracking down.
Source : Release
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