The Data Protection Commissioner is investigating after a family staying at an Airbnb in Cork discovered a hidden camera in the house.
Nealie and Andrew Barker from New Zealand found the device in a smoke alarm after arriving at the house last month.
They were travelling in Ireland as part of a wider trip across Europe.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, Nealie Barker said her husband stumbled across the camera's live feed as he was trying to connect to the property's Wi-Fi.
“As is his custom – he is an IT consultant by trade – he scanned the network of the house,” she said.
“Usually you see your own devices sitting on the network – you see the children’s laptops, you see my phone because we have all connected.
“Instead, he saw a device called an IP camera which didn’t belong to any of us.
“He scanned the ports of that camera and almost immediately the live feed of a video recorder or camera that we didn’t know was there popped up on to his mobile phone and we could all see ourselves.”
Airbnb
She said the family then went on a “bit of hunt around the living area” to try and find the hidden camera, noting that it “certainly was not obvious” where it was.
“After a little bit of walking around and looking at the feed ourselves, because it was all happening live, we did find it,” she said.
“It was hidden inside a smoke alarm casing essentially – disguised to look like a smoke alarm or maybe a carbon monoxide detector.”
In a post on Facebook, Ms Barker said the host only admitted the camera was there “after presented with our irrefutable proof.”
She said she provided Airbnb with photos and snapshots of the video feed - however she said the site “exonerated” without giving the family any explanation.
She said the host was also claiming that the accusation was false.
“This is not a problem we have ever had before in fact we have found most Airbnb hosts and accommodation to be fantastic, so this has been such a shock to us,” said Ms Barker.
"Bad actor"
In a statement this morning, Airbnb said it had "permanently removed this bad actor from our platform."
"Our original handling of this incident did not meet the high standards we set for ourselves and we have apologized to the family and fully refunded their stay," it said in a statement.
It said Airbnb policy strictly prohibits hidden cameras in any listing. Cameras are also banned from bedrooms and bathrooms.
Airbnb policy dictates that any camera in a property must be fully disclosed to the guest before booking.
