AIRBNB HAS issued an apology to the New Zealand family who discovered they were being filmed on a hidden camera during a holiday stay at a property in Ireland.
Mother-of-five Nealie Barker took to social media reveal how her family’s trip to County Cork had turned sour after a hidden camera was found inside a smoke alarm at the house they were staying in.
Writing on Facebook, Nealie explained how the family came across the camera feed while trying to connect to the WiFi at the house.
"We just found a camera hidden in a smoke alarm case in the private living room of a listing" she wrote.
"We were travelling with children. The host admitted to the concealed camera over the phone, only after presented with our irrefutable proof."
Nealie said her family contacted Airbnb to complain about the incident but they “didn’t include any follow-up” with them.
It was subsequently discovered that Airbnb had “exonerated the host” after finding “no wrong-doing on his part”.
The property was relisted soon after.
Airbnb has now apologised over the incident.
"The safety and privacy of our community - both online and offline - is our priority,” a spokesperson told Sky News.
"Airbnb policies strictly prohibit hidden cameras in listings and we take reports of any violations extremely seriously.
"We have 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 apologised to the family and fully refunded their stay.
"There have been more than 500 million guest arrivals in Airbnb listings to date and negative incidents are incredibly rare."
Airbnb operates a strict policy on the use of cameras in rental properties.
They are not permitted in bathrooms or bedrooms and must never be concealed.
Any property found violating these terms faces expulsion from the website.
See More: Airbnb, Cork, Irish Airbnb, Newsletterr
