Airbnb Answers: Guest profile photos

[Airbnb]

Update: January, 2019

A few months ago, we told you about some changes Airbnb was making to the way guest profile photos are displayed. You can read the original post, below.

Now that those changes are being introduced gradually, we want to make sure you have all the information you need. Here’s a recap of what will be changing, along with some tips.

New photo process

Moving forward, rather than displaying a potential guest’s profile photo before the booking is accepted, you’ll receive a guest’s photo after you’ve accepted the booking request. If you have Instant Book turned on, you won’t notice a change to the booking process.

Airbnb does not require guests to have profile photos. Although most guests provide a photo, some have told us they don’t want to share a picture of themselves when booking, and we listened.

At the same time, many of you told us that you value guest profile photos, and we listened to you, too. That’s why we’ve introduced a new option for hosts to be able to customize their own booking requirements.

New host control

You now have the option to require that your guests provide a profile photo. Again, the photo will be visible to you only after you accept the booking request. If you’d like to require your guests to provide a profile photo, you’ll need to turn on the control option in your settings for each of your listings, either on mobile or on web. Specifically:

On mobile:

1. Go to the listing you’d like to require profile photos for
2. Tap Booking settings
3. Tap Guest requirements
4. Look for the Profile photo section and tap Edit
5. Tap Require a profile photo
6. Tap Save

On web:

1. From your host dashboard, click Listings
2. Click Booking settings
3. Next to Guest requirements, click Edit
4. Check the box next to Profile photo
5. Click Save

If you take this step and a potential guest doesn’t already have a profile photo, they’ll be prompted to upload one before they can request to book your space. A guest’s profile photo will not be available to you until after you accept the booking request. If the guest doesn’t want to provide a photo, then they won’t be able to book your space. 

Additional support

If you choose to require that your guests have a profile photo and one of your potential guests uploads an image that doesn’t show their face—a photo of a sunset or their dog, for instance—then you can call Airbnb’s Community Support. They’ll work with you to address the issue, and if you feel uncomfortable hosting someone without a photo that shows their face, you can request to cancel the reservation penalty-free.

As a reminder, Airbnb’s nondiscrimination policy prohibits hosts from making booking decisions or canceling reservations based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status. 

As an extra step, as always, you can require guests to provide a government ID to Airbnb in order to be able to book your space. You can read more about that process here.

Why these changes are important

We talked with lots of hosts and guests about profile photos, and we think these changes satisfy the core concerns and feedback we heard. We’ll be paying close attention to how these changes to profile photos affect our community, and will continue working to improve and simplify the process to ensure you feel comfortable hosting. We hope you’ll share your feedback with us so we can continue to build a community where everyone can belong. Thank you for hosting.

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October, 2018

You've been asking a lot about guest profile photos, and Airbnb has been working on new policies to address your concerns. Here is an update from Airbnb:

Today, we’re announcing some changes we will be making to the way we display guest profile photos.

Moving forward, rather than displaying a potential guest’s profile photo before the booking is accepted, hosts will receive a guest’s photo in the booking process only after they’ve accepted the booking request. Airbnb does not require all guests to provide a photo. Instead, we’ll be giving hosts the option to ask their guests to provide a profile photo, which will only be presented to hosts after they accept the booking. We have discussed some of this work in the past and we want you to know more about the changes we will be making in the coming months.

We have participated in a number of conversations with hosts and guests regarding this topic. We have listened to our community, and while most guests provide a photo, some guests told us they don’t want to share a picture of themselves when booking. We also recognize that concerns have been raised about the potential for photos to be misused in a way that violates our nondiscrimination policy.

At the same time, hosts have told us that they value profile photos because they can help hosts and guests get to know one another before a trip begins and help hosts recognize guests when they check in. Additionally, we’ve seen how photos can be a useful tool for enhancing trust and promoting community.

We want to balance these concerns. Airbnb does not require guests to provide a profile photo when booking a listing and, as we discussed earlier this summer with our hosts, we will be implementing a series of changes in the months ahead:

• If a guest chooses to provide a profile photo, that profile photo won’t be displayed to the host as part of the booking process until after the booking is confirmed.
• Because some hosts value profile photos and want to be able to know who they can expect at their front door, we will give hosts the option to ask that guests provide a profile photo prior to booking, which will only be presented to the host after the host accepts the booking request. This new option comes with important safeguards that are designed to ensure our community is fair and open to everyone:
  • Hosts must turn on this feature for each of their listings proactively, before they receive a reservation request.
  • If a host asks for a profile photo, we’ll prompt guests to upload one to their Airbnb profile before they can request to book that host’s particular listing; however, the photo will not be presented to the host until after the booking is confirmed.

If a host cancels a reservation after they see a guest’s photo, the guest will have an easy way to contact Airbnb and report any concerns about potential discrimination by the host in violation of our nondiscrimination policy and Community Commitment. If any guest believes he or she has been discriminated against and notifies our team, we’ll immediately help them book an alternative listing consistent with our Open Doors Policy, investigate the report, and take appropriate action. Any host who violates our nondiscrimination policy may be permanently banned from using Airbnb.

This announcement follows the commitment we made in 2016 to evaluate how we display guest profile photos in the booking process. As we implement these changes in the coming months, we hope you’ll share your feedback with us so we can continue to make thoughtful changes that make the Airbnb community a place where everyone can belong.

[Ruth12]

Precisely!  I have never discriminated against any guests and have had guests of all races and religions in my home.  I did, however, have a guest leave my home when a man of dark pigment check-in and AirBnB issued a full refund before checking with me as to the circumstances of the guest's sudden "discomfort".  I have since learned of at least 2 other hosts with similar stories.

I also remember the story of the Asian woman turned away from a Bear Mountain accomodation, after traveling in a snow storm.  While I don't condone any form of racism, wouldn't a guest be better off not having a reservation accepted than to have a host turn them away at the door?

I feel that we, single women, who have done nothing wrong, are having our safety jeopardized by a policy that will actually not address the true culprits.  If people are not comfortable with people of color, they are not going to suddenly welcome in their doors just because AirBnB no longer requires pictures.  AirBnB is putting out a "solution" for appearances that does not really solve the problem.  Meanwhile, it may well mean costing me, and others, who have been loyal hosts, our businesses.

Currently, free platforms such as Couchsurfing even have photos that are thoroughly verified along with address verification.  I don't think asking for a photo is too much to ask.

[Aliye1]

Biz hostlar, en mahrem evimizin ve kendimizin fotoğrafların yayınlıyorsak, misafirlerin bir pasaport fotolarını yayınlamaları neden abes oluyor? şeffaf olmak durumundayız, Airbnb müşterisinin dünyadaki 8 milyar insandan ne farkı var, psikolojik test mi yapılıyor, Hostların hayatı,maddi ve manevi güvenceleri ne olacak, bir criminal otele gidemez, kimlik ve polis denetimi var, fakat bir kriminal hele hele fotosunu da koymayacak, kimlik belli değil, ben aksinemüşterilerim hakkında daha fazla bilgi istiyorum, özelhayatımı emanet ediyorum,çünkü,

[Laramie-and-Wendi0]

I know this thread is old, but the Media lied about that Bear Mountain story.  If you look closely on the clip, you can see that the booking was for one person in a single bed.  They called ahead to say that not only were they a couple, the had a *second* couple with them.  The guest was in violation of the number of persons.  But the media ran with the racism story because the guest was able to escalate the chat until the host said some stupid, racist stuff.

[Judy97]

Carli - I am with you on this.  I too am a single female hosting in my home, and there is no way I'm going to allow someone to book without a verified photo.  I guess this means taking down instant booking and requiring both me and my potential guests to go through the hassle of communicating back/forth before booking.  I like being able to the balance of ease of frictionless transactions while still giving me some control, but this new policy will make it more difficult for everyone except absentee hosts who could care less who stays in their home.

Seriously, Airbnb - remember that without hosts you are nothing. In our metro area, and many others, local laws are prohibiting new Airbnb rentals unless they're owner-occupied.  That's an immediate constraint on Airbnb's ability to scale. And if they force hosts out through these ridiculous policies, they restrict their growth even more.

[Georgia103]

Judy in Marblehead; I resent the comment: "....absentee hosts who could care less who stays in their home". I have a full home to offer travelers who need larger space. I put a GREAT DEAL of care and effort into making it a clean, comfortable, and inviting place to stay. I care a GREAT DEAL about who is using my property I have put so much time, heart, and money into. I have wished often I had a photo of the person booking. Not because I want to discriminate, but because I am a people person and like communicating with a face as a visual as well as security of who actually comes to stay. I have been very blessed with my bookings so far and they include a wide range of peoples, religions, and purposes for travel. I am an AirBnb guest which is why I wanted to host. Most of my travel has been in Europe but both there and here I have had requests for photos before booking and have no problem giving one. My guest photo is also my Host photo. There should be no need for argument in this arena about whether a guest should provide a photo. It is, yes they should. If they are reluctant to provide, the host has a right to be concerned especially on instant book. If not a photo, then a profile with more than a name and location to give the host a greater feeling of comfort with the guest and information that can facilitate a host/guest relationship.

[Paul347]

Carli, your comment is somewhat confusing. As I understand it, you will get to see a photo of any future guest once the booking has been confirmed. I have to ask this question, to make your comment relevant. What content with a profile pic would make you reject a booking? Do you only want female guests?

[Tracey22]

I agree with Carli 100%.  I too am a single female host - a Superhost, living in the bush up in cottage country, renting rooms in my own personal chalet where I live full-time and year-round ... and my nearest neighbours are over a kilometre away.  This is going to be a deal breaker for me too.  Like Carli, I've hosted people from all around the world, of every color and faith.  I don't discriminate, but I am painfully aware of how many criminals are running around free in my country, in my province, in my nearest cities.  One of our top Canadian Military Brass, Colonel Russell Williams - flying around the world as a dignitary with our last Prime Minister, Stephen Harper - was convicted of breaking in and raping women just over an hour from my place.   Airbnb repeatedly tells it's hosts that safety and security are paramount ... but truthfully and realistically, it appears to be no more than lip service.  It is absolutely outrageous that a host, bringing complete strangers from the internet into their home where all their personal belongings and private data reside (and especially for those hosts who live in remote and secluded locations), cannot first see a profile picture of the prospective guest to make sure their picture is not of someone they've seen wanted on the news for some crime.   Airbnb is showing absolutely ZERO REGARD, ZERO CARE OR CONCERN FOR THE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF THEIR HOSTS WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS KEEPING THE GUEST'S IDENTITY A VIRTUAL SECRET UNTIL AFTER THEY HAVE BOOKED.  This will DEFINITELY not work for me.

[Karen1441]

YES, I agree with Tracy. THis is WAY to onesided. I feel that Airbnb often supports the guests more than their Hosts. WHATEVER HAPPENED TO TRANSPARENCY???

[Willeke0]

Agree, We thought that Airbnb is a community. So it shouldn't do anybody harm to show a picture of yourself. As host we have also a picture. We also have guests from over the world and not only bij Airbnb. They are staying with us in our house so we want to know who wants a reservation and what they want to do during their stay, because we are a bed & breakfast and not a hotel.

We hope that Airbnb will reconsider this en show the picture on request before the reservation is done.

[John28]

I agree.  I recieved a guest today.  I hadn't not heard a word from him from all of the email and messages I sent to him, but he finalyy sends me a message today.  All I  know is that it is a person named "RAdford" from here yet he drove alld ay long, and he arrived with a young lady, I have no idea who she is!  This is ridiculous honestly.  I have no idea who is sleeping in my home.! Or if they are enven here b/c they stopped ansering any messages..and no there was no picture at all. 

[Kathleen318]

Wow, I know you must be nervous.  Airbnb show get all of their ID so at least you know a little bit about them. If you have his name, his place of residence and know what he looks like you might find him on social media.

[Shoshana6]

Amen! AirBNB's business model purports to be built on trust. By removing the profile pictures, they're saying they don't trust hosts not to discriminate, but still they expect us hosts to trust the faceless inquiry? If it were truly about trust, all users would be required to upload a clear profile photo.  

Please change it back!

[Anya17]

Agreed. It's not discrimination when it's your own home where you sleep. This is bordering on infringing my personal rights. There are so many hoops to jump through for hosts as it is, its getting ridiculous. 

These new policies, combined with Airbnb constantly lowering the bar and flooding the market to get more hosts, has made me look into other sites on which to put my space up. 

[Shelley6]

Hi Anya, What have you found?im getting frustrated.

I just spent an hour unsuccessfully trying to get an answer from someone at Air BnB super host customer service. Until recently, I did not realize that many hosts do not get ID, photos, or verifications of any kind before accepting a reservation. I was very surprised since I thought this was part of Airbnb’s transactional platform.

Two different customer service specialists told me they knew nothing about a change in the photo identification requirements. They told me the email (that we are all discussing here) must’ve been fraudulent!! 

Crazy. Airbnb needs some competition.

[Karen804]

I agree totally Carli!   I think it only makes sense to profide profile pictures, and if you discriminate,  it would be obvious to the powers that be, I would think.