Airbnb's privacy program is documented through a central Privacy Policy plus a series of regional and product-specific supplements (e.g., for payments, the Luckey subsidiary, and the Airbnb.org nonprofit), each naming a distinct data controller. The company's Cookie Policy discloses that third parties are allowed to collect data on Airbnb's behalf and that certain data is disclosed to third parties, including for advertising on and off the platform based on users' activity across sites, services, and devices. Separately, Airbnb Ireland has received multiple formal reprimands from Ireland's Data Protection Commission in 2023 over identity-document retention practices, and a privacy advocacy group has twice asked the FTC to examine undisclosed risk-scoring algorithms used to assess guests.
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Airbnb collects information on listings that complete location verification to confirm the listing is in its expected location, and that information may be shared with authorized third-party service providers to support fraud detection and location verification.
For members in the United States, to the extent permitted by applicable laws, Airbnb may obtain reports of criminal records and sex offender registrations, and for hosts in India, it may perform criminal background checks.
The service's policy indicates your personal data may be sold or otherwise transferred as part of a bankruptcy proceeding or other type of financial transaction.
Airbnb's Privacy Policy describes how Airbnb, Inc. and its affiliates process personal information, and states that the designated "Controller" responsible for a given user's data is set out in a Schedule 1 that varies by region. The current version of this policy is dated February 6, 2025.
Airbnb's Cookie Policy discloses that Airbnb allows third parties to collect data on its behalf and discloses certain data to third parties for purposes including advertising on and off the Airbnb Platform based on users' online activities over time and across different sites, services, and devices.
The privacy policy for Luckey (an Airbnb-owned service) discloses that it shares personal data with other companies, including within the Airbnb corporate group, for its commercial interests and with government authorities in accordance with legal obligations.
On June 12, 2020, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Airbnb announced a settlement of a lawsuit regarding Local Law 146 of 2018, which requires short-term rental platforms to file host and transaction data reports with the City; in its initial filings Airbnb had expressed concern about data storage, sharing and privacy under the law.
Airbnb's Cookie Policy states that third parties, including companies like Facebook and Google, offer the tracking technologies used on the Airbnb Platform, and that Airbnb allows third parties to collect data on its behalf.
In a 2022 follow-up letter to its original FTC complaint, EPIC described a newly announced Airbnb algorithm used to identify and block would-be renters deemed likely to throw a party, stating that Airbnb had not disclosed the logic or full range of factors on which the system relies.