Airbnb’s security camera policy: what hosts can and cannot record

Airbnb does not allow hosts to have security cameras or recording devices that monitor any part of a home’s interior, and hidden cameras are banned outright. Hosts may have cameras outside the home, but they must disclose each one, with its location, in the listing description. That is the policy as the company’s help page states it, and it is stricter than most guests assume: the interior ban applies to every room, and it applies even when the camera is switched off.

The rest of this article covers what that policy does and does not cover, what a guest should check before booking, and how the company’s rule relates to the law, which is a separate matter. A policy is a contract term between the platform and the host. The criminal statutes are what put a host in court.

What the policy says

From Airbnb’s Help Center article on security cameras and recording devices, in summary:

• Indoor security cameras and recording devices that monitor any part of a home’s interior are not allowed, in any room, even if turned off.
• Hidden cameras are not allowed anywhere.
• Exterior cameras are allowed if the listing discloses them and says where they are, for example a front-yard camera or a doorbell camera watching the front door.
• Cameras may not monitor exterior areas where guests have a greater expectation of privacy, and the policy names the inside of an enclosed outdoor shower and a sauna.
• Noise decibel monitors that do not record are allowed indoors, but not in bedrooms, bathrooms or sleeping areas, and they must be disclosed in the listing.

Policies get revised. Read the current text on Airbnb’s own site rather than relying on this summary, and look at the date of any screenshot a host or a forum sends you.

What the policy does not give you

The help article describes what hosts must and must not do. It does not set out what Airbnb does when a guest reports a violation, so this article does not claim a refund, a removal or a timeline. If you have a problem, the page does not tell you how fast the company will act. For that reason, a guest who finds a camera should not treat “report it to Airbnb” as the whole answer; the criminal law is a separate channel, covered below.

The policy also does not cover a camera aimed at a shared area of a building, a neighbor’s camera that sees the patio, or a camera in a house that is a hotel-style rental under another platform. Other booking sites have their own rules, and some have none beyond the law.

Reading a listing before you book

A listing that mentions an exterior camera is doing what the policy requires. A listing that says nothing may simply have none, since disclosure is required only for what exists. Some things to read for:

• “Doorbell camera” or “front-door camera” is permitted if disclosed. Ask where it points if the unit shares a landing or a patio.
• “Smart home” language that mentions microphones or assistants. A smart speaker is not a security camera, but it is a device with a microphone.
• Noise monitors are allowed outside bedrooms and sleeping areas. If the listing says one sits in a bedroom, that contradicts the policy.
• Photos showing smoke detectors, clocks or chargers pointed at the bed. This is a reason to do a physical sweep on arrival rather than a reason to assume anything.
• Reviews that mention a camera. Read them all; one is enough to ask the host directly.

The law is what a host answers to

A host who hides a camera in a bedroom or bathroom is not just breaking a house rule. State criminal law applies, and it varies. A few examples, paraphrased from the statutes:

California Penal Code section 647(j)(3) covers a person who uses a concealed camera to secretly record another identifiable person who may be in a state of full or partial undress in the interior of a bedroom, bathroom, changing room, fitting room, dressing room or tanning booth. Section 647(j)(1) separately covers viewing the interior of those rooms through a hole or opening, or by means of a camera or other device, with the intent to invade the privacy of the people inside. Violations are misdemeanors.

Texas Penal Code section 21.15 makes it an offense, without consent and with intent to invade privacy, to record a visual image of an intimate area in which the person has a reasonable expectation of privacy, or to record another person in a bathroom or changing room. Subsection (c) classifies it as a state jail felony.

Federal law is narrower than people think. 18 U.S.C. section 1801, the federal video voyeurism statute, applies “in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States” and carries up to one year in prison. That reach is specific, for example federal land, so for an ordinary rental the state statute is the one that matters.

Audio is a separate issue. A camera that records sound of a conversation the host is not part of may bring in the federal Wiretap Act, 18 U.S.C. section 2511. The one-party consent exception in section 2511(2)(d) covers a person who is a party to the conversation or has the consent of one party, and does not cover a host who is absent from the room.

How the two layers fit

If a host breaks Airbnb’s rule and also commits a crime, both things are true at once. The platform can remove the listing; a prosecutor decides whether to charge. A guest who reports to one does not satisfy the other, and a good approach is to do both. Our article on checking a hotel room or Airbnb for cameras covers the sweep, and the legal ground in more depth is in our guide to US surveillance laws and the explainer on hidden cameras at home.

A fair reading for hosts

A host who wants to monitor a property while it is empty has options inside the policy: a camera on the porch with disclosure in the listing, a smart lock with an entry log, a noise monitor outside the bedrooms. The line is the interior, and it is bright. A camera “off during stays” is still a prohibited interior camera under the policy’s wording, because the rule says even if turned off.

On arrival

Before you unpack, look at the room as the listing described it. Compare the camera disclosures to what you can see. If the listing named an exterior camera, find it and see where it points. If you see a device that the listing did not disclose, photograph it and ask the host in writing what it is. Written answers matter: a host who says “that is a smoke alarm” in a message is on record, and a host who changes the story is too. Keep the exchange in the platform’s messaging system, where it is stored on the platform’s side as well as yours, rather than moving to text.

A camera that the listing disclosed is not a violation, but you are still entitled to know where it looks. If a disclosed porch camera also covers a private patio where you would sunbathe, ask. If the answer does not satisfy you, that is a reason to say so in your review and, if it breaks the policy, to report it.