New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman could wind up snooping on innocent people’s vacation habits in his crackdown on apartment rental site Airbnb, a Washington think tank said Friday.
Future of Privacy Forum, which focuses on Internet privacy issues, slammed Schneiderman for demanding data on thousands of New Yorkers using Airbnb, according to an open letter posted on its site. Schneiderman subpoenaed the data as part of a probe into the website’s users’ compliance with a 2010 law that makes it illegal for people rent out their apartments for less than 30 days unless they’re also present in the home.
“The demand isn’t just for the small number of users who might be abusing the system but for information revealing the vacation habits of thousands of New Yorkers,” the think tank said.
Airbnb has 225,000 users in the city, although the AG’s office has said it is only seeking data on 15,000 or so New Yorkers it suspects of being “illegal, highly lucrative hotel operators.”
Schneiderman is also worried that some Airbnb hosts have evaded a 14.75 percent state occupancy tax. Airbnb, which pairs vacationers and apartments, homes and spare rooms to rent, has said it doesn’t have any way of knowing which hosts were present during the short-term rental and has accused the AG of going on a “fishing expedition.”
Schneiderman’s subpoena seeks hosting residents’ names, contact information, dates it had guests stay, rates charged and payment information.
“That’s a lot of very personal information to be placing into government hands, particularly where, as here, there is no clear evidence of any user wrong-doing, ” the Future of Privacy Forum wrote.
The Washington-based think tank is the latest in a long line of Internet and privacy groups to ask the AG to narrow his probe.
Airbnb’s request to toss Schneiderman’s subpoena is currently before Albany state judge Gerald Connolly.