Verify ID now required for all travelers?

[Ramona11]

Has anyone else run up against a requirement to use Verify ID no matter who you are booking with? For security reasons I do not with to keep my ocs on file and link my airbnb profile with my fb page. So I have not been able to book with any hosts now, and the hosts are not the ones imposing the requirement. as a Super Host myself, I think this is going to really hurt my business. Anyone know anything? Thanks!

[Antonia-Marina0]

 I agree. This makes me very uncomfortable and I am now looking at hotels instead.

[Kate515]

Me too!

[Margaret250]

I have no intention of sharing a government ID on-line.  Has Air B&B lost it's desire to do business in the future.  I will be using other sites from now on.

[Dat3]

I was a victim of idetify thief for more than 20,000 USD, and now Airbnb ask me to give then all the info on my or dirver license or passport so then can "leak" my information to bad gays again.

NO MORE AIRBNB FOR ME UNTIL THEY REMOVE THAT STUPID IDEA.

[Ginger40]

As a guest providing booking through paypal I will always choose not to provide a photo id-air b&b has not convinced me they will hold that information in a secure way-

[Nigel64]

opMy fiancé and I two nights ago were not given the option but we’re blocked from booking until we’d gone through tge ID process. After numerous attempts to upload both drivers license and passport only to be told they weren’t clear enough we eventually had to find a hotel and ring it directly, spending more than we intended originally and feeling very disappointed that we could not have the Airbnb experience . Hope this helps your query 

[Deborah409]

And who is going to provide security for the guests when our information is stolen? You should verify in person when the person checks in, the way hotels do. You cannot keep this information safe, and I, for one, will never provide it.

[Jonathan469]

Just ruined my booking at last minute. Like I'd let airbnb sell off more data than you already have, especially a government ID- Homeaway seems better anyway. Bye airbnb!

[Kate515]

I really, really want to book a place on airbnb, but they are requiring the gov ID.  No way!  In whose hands will the info be, how safe?  Really sorry to have to pass on this beautiful property.  $415 a night is OK, gov ID so not okay.

[Steve585]

Nope. It's required now. Dealbreaker for me.

[Glenys27]

How does it work when Airbnb verifies your identity? – Airbnb Help Centre

For residents of Singapore, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Japan, and Korea: No matter which type of ID you add, be sure the image of your ID doesn’t show your identification or registration number. If you take a new photo of your ID, cover the number with tape or your finger when you take the photo, making sure all other info is visible. If you upload an existing photo of your ID, edit it first so that your identification number can’t be seen

[John1852]

I went to press book saw this ridiculous requirement and told the host that this was not acceptable to me. Hell...I can book a room at the Ritz without doing this. Stupid...Ridiculous...Idiotic...Ok...I'm getting redundant.

[Hung-Mao0]

I started hosting recently.  I wanted to find out the practice of asking or not asking for ID.  I am surprised at comments mostly against giving ID to the host.  I have been traveling all my life staying at hotels.  The moment  i check into a hotel, the first thing they ask is an ID.  And I don't think twice about handing over my ID.   This has always been the process in the past and still is today.   I understand Airbnb is a bit different than a hotel.    But verification and ID cannot be ignored unless I am missing something.  

[Helga0]

Hi @Chisako0, unfortunately your reasonable approach misses indeed something: 

ID is never given to the host. Even if you have a problem with a guest with « verified ID », you will never get it from the service. An airbnb hotline staffer cannot acces it either.

That doesn’t really matter much, as it’s easy to get a verified id badge with obviously absurd nicknames and a photo taken from a film. (Had that this week)

In most countries outside the US, a private company could not even check criminal records or verify a social security number. 

In a global company, to roll out this so called verification process makes sense if you do it for data collection.

I opened the app for the first time on a new phone a few days ago and it proposed to synch my contacts! Why would I do that with a service, which withholds emails anyway and hides phone numbers a few days after checkout? So they can delete former guests phone numbers on my phone as well? “Synching” implies a reading and writing acces. Spamming my contacts would be bad enough. 

I believe nobody on this thread was against guests showing their ID at checkin. You have the right to stipulate a house rule that you ask to see an ID  before you give access.  (Without making a copy, if your local law does not require it).

[AlfonsoVonB0]

You are missing something.  As I posted above, most of the people who object to this ABB policy would have no problem showing an ID upon arrival (as you do at a hotel). They object to ABB storing this info on their servers ad passing it on to (unknown to the ABB guest) third parties.