How AirBnB's Data Hid the Facts in NYC [pdf] | Hacker News Reader

How AirBnB's Data Hid the Facts in NYC [pdf]

insideairbnb.com

67 pointsjaboutboul22 comments

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13628737

Could this result in criminal penalties for the executives who signed off on the data?

It's definitely seedy, but it doesn't sound like it's illegal. Misrepresenting data is one thing, but circulating misleading data is hard to define and punish.

lieing and destroying evidence if there is a warrant or subpoena is a definitive crime.

aiding and abetting

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiding_and_abetting

Hopefully it will lead to the changing of these laws that don't let people do otherwise lawful things with their property.

This needs a [2016] in the title

and this is interesting because?

The facts reveal that AirBNB is actively covering up that they are permitting hosts to violate New York Law by listing multiple dwellings on the platform.

Hmm. Is that their responsibility to enforce? Not really familiar with the details here, but it seems akin to holding Craigslist responsible for someone selling a stolen bike.

More akin to Craigslist deleting a bunch of stolen bike posts right before snapshotting the DB, during an investigation of illegal sales on Craigslist.

~~~(And only deleting them in the city where the investigation is happening)~~~

Did that happen?

Actually I miss read the link. The parenthetical is inaccurate, but the rest is exactly what the article alleges.

I would say you have a bad analogy - Craigslist doesn't really have a good way of knowing if somebody is selling something stolen.

AirBNB on the other hand is covering evidence of their customers breaking the law, on purpose.

so isn't that ipso facto aid and abetting?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aiding_and_abetting

If states don't have to enforce federal immigration law then do businesses have to enforce state restrictions?

(Probably yes. If that's what the laws say. I have no idea.)

They collect the SSN of hosts for the federally-mandated 1099K disclosures, so they can use that or a hash of that as a unique identifier and prevent listing multiple dwellings in localities that have such laws.

No. It is their responsibility to accurately disclose.

ELI5 for someone not privy to this debate?

Housing in NYC is expensive. Zoning laws exist in part to control housing costs. Airbnb is seen as a way to circumvent these laws by facilitating short-term listings in otherwise long-term residential areas.

Airbnb released a detailed snapshot of its NYC listings in order to minimize such concerns and prevent restrictions on its business. However, individuals who had been consistently collecting similar data from Airbnb's website noticed that the snapshot was misleading. Airbnb had instituted a crackdown on "bad" listings immediately prior to the snapshot, but allowed them to return right after.

Disgraceful behavior, but would no doubt be condoned here as excellent hustle.

If you have something substantive to say on the topic, including constructive criticism, please do share. If it's just gratuitous negativity disparaging the community you choose to be a part of, please refrain.

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