Guest Database

[Oberoi0]

The host should be able to download the database of the guests he has hosted till now along with their photographs and Identity proofs
If there is any enquiry by any Government agency or police regarding the stay of any past guest we should be in a position to provide the government agency or police the details of the guest they are asking for

There are so many antisocial elements in the society and we are trusting our guests to use our apartment and the WiFi so in case of any enquiry about any guest the host should have proper data base along with the identity proofs of all the guests.

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

@Oberoi0 Any host that wants access to the private documents of guests, would need to go through a thorough security background check. They should also have to prove that they have the information security skills to properly secure such documents, and be able to prove that they have systems in place for keeping them secure.

Personally, I would not ever want to be in possesion of any documents which could be used for the purposes of identity theft. I would not want to be responsible for the security of such documents.

[Oberoi0]

If a guest has used my apartment to live and to store his luggage and has used my wifi I have all the right to have the copy of his identity proof

We do take copy of id proof of the guest while checkin but what I want from BNB is to provide me the data so that in case of any enquiry  if I have to check which guest stayed with me few years back I should be able to fetch the details like his name address and phone number.

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

@Oberoi0 It's definitely an interesting idea. My thinking is that Airbnb already has this information securely stored. If there is any problem, the police can always contact Airbnb to obtain any identification documents.

There is no way I would ever want to be in a position of being accused of identity theft by a guest.

I know that some hosts are willing to take that chance, but there needs to be a way of opting-out (or not opting-in) to such a program as it  would not be fair to put all hosts at risk because of the few that prefer to have posession of this type of information. It also needs to be clear to hosts and guests who is responsible for any data breech. Is Airbnb responbile for a host's security lapse?

It's a very risky idea, but with the proper safeguards in place, it might be workable.

[Oberoi0]

There is no harm or risk to anyone if I can access the information such as name address and tel no of the people who have stayed with me in the past.
And hosts who don't want this can opt out.

[Linda108]

I cannot think of any reason I would need to access the information.  If there were legal reasons, I would want to go through Air BNB.  As a guest, I would not want the host to have access to my personal information and would only want to be contacted through the Air BNB platform.

[Ed-and-Hugh0]

@Oberoi0 We're not talking about the names, and phone numbers. Recall that your original post specifically referred to "Identity proofs" (sic) meaning driver's license, credit card information, passport information, etc. that Airbnb gets from users.

There is a very real risk for posessing this type of information as it can be used to commit identity theft. It should not be done lightly or without careful background checks for any host who requests this information.

[Gerry-And-Rashid0]

`I am really not up for being an arm of the law - they are good enough and bad enough at doing that themselves.