Airbnb and Homeaway have each filed a lawsuit against New
York City, alleging that recently passed legislation requiring the companies to
divulge user data violates privacy rights.
In July, the New York City Council unanimously passed a bill
ordering home-sharing companies to hand over information on everyone in the
city who rents out rooms or apartments through their platforms. The measure had
received support from New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, affordable housing
advocates and the American Hotel and Lodging Association.
In its lawsuit filed last Friday in New York, Airbnb called
the legislation "an extraordinary act of government overreach" and "the
product of a multimillion dollar campaign funded by the city's powerful hotel
lobby," while adding that it "violates core constitutional rights
under the First and Fourth amendments."
According to Airbnb's claim, the city's new ordinance
requires that the platform share the address of the residence and the full
legal name, address, telephone number and email address of the host, as well as
other identifiers, for each instance a New York City home is rented on a
short-term basis. The platform must also provide details on how the residence
was occupied, the total number of days it was rented, any fees received by the
platform and, if the platform collects rent, the amount paid and the host's
bank account information.
Like Airbnb, Homeaway argued that the measure is directly at
odds with current federal laws protecting personal and financial data, while
also noting its passage comes "at a time when legislative, judicial, and
public support for protecting against the release of private data shared with
internet services and ensuring valid consent for any such release has never
been stronger."
Despite New York's crackdown, the Travel Technology Association
is confident that Airbnb, Homeaway and other home-sharing companies will find a
way to survive in the city. Homeaway and Airbnb are members of the trade group.
"Homeaway has been around for 20-plus years, and Airbnb
is at 10-plus years at this point, and home-sharing really isn't a travel
option that anyone is going to be able to shut down tomorrow," says Matt
Kiessling, vice president of short-term rental policy for the Travel Technology
Association. "The horse is out of the barn here, and if people want to
offer their home as a short-term rental, they're going to find a way. You can
only police so many platforms."