Well here’s some nightmare fuel for anyone who anyone who uses Airbnb. A couple staying in a townhouse rental south of Tampa Bay on Longboat Key found a pinhole camera hidden in a smoke detector, which had been pointed right at the bed. The husband, Derek Starnes later told police that he only noticed the camera because he works in IT, and eventually authorities found a total of two cameras that were taken from smoke detectors within the home.
Starnes told ABC News affiliate WFTS-TV of Tampa that he and his wife and were distressed by the situation. “I hope more victims will come forward,” he added. The home’s owner, 56-year-old Wayne Natt has since been arrested on for video voyeurism charges, and has been permanently banned by Airbnb.
“We are outraged at the reports of what happened. As soon as we were made aware, we permanently banned this individual from our community and fully supported the affected guests,” Benjamin Breit, a spokesperson for Airbnb, told ABC News in a statement.
“Our team has reached out to local law enforcement to aid them with their investigation of this egregious offense, and we hope justice is served. We take privacy issues extremely seriously and have a zero-tolerance policy against this behavior,” Breit added.
As if this isn’t enough for Airbnb to deal with, just last year the the online hospitality company was forced to impliment a no tolerance policy regarding discrimination due to guests being rejected on grounds of race, sexual preference, and even disability.
(Via ABC News)