Airbnb’s experiment in censoring pending guests’ profile pictures…

[Trevor26]

Fellow hosts, guests, & the Airbnb team, 

After noticing that pending guests’ profile pictures have been greyed out for a time, and after several calls and follow up with Airbnb, I have learned that this is not a glitch, but an “experiment” in which 5% of all global hosts have been enrolled to measure discrimination by censoring guests’ profile pictures.  As a Superhost on Airbnb who has been enrolled without permission or notification…I am disappointed and insulted that Airbnb doesn’t trust me to be non-discriminatory…that as a visual person who enjoys to see the way that people of any race, gender, or ethnicity choose to present themselves and the environment that they frame themselves in are now censored …that Airbnb doesn’t allow me to get to know a stranger a little bit before accepting them into my own home… it makes me feel untrusted…judged…guilty until proven innocent…creeped out (for the guest can see me, my property, and profile, while I can’t see back through that one way window).  To use the cliche “a picture speaks a thousand words”, this move, which did not take into account any feedback, permission, or consensus from hosts, really is a step in the wrong direction. Airbnb is about community and trust. To assume discrimination as a default is really insulting to those of us who are inviting diversity into our own homes. 

I have taken the Airbnb pledge to be non-discriminatory, and it is genuine. I enjoy hosting guests of all walks of life, ethnicities, preferences, etc. This should be the default assumption of all hosts until proven otherwise. 

When I myself am a guest on Airbnb, in the unlikely but possible circumstance that a host would be discriminatory against me, I’d prefer that host to have the full, unfiltered version of my profile, pictures and all, so that I could avoid being placed in a position where I would be staying in someone’s home who would be discriminatory. 

Airbnb, please unblock my guests’ profile pictures. They and I do not deserve to be censored! 

Thanks, 

-Trevor

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/457547

[David126]

@Trevor26

Nobody from AirBnB on here, mainly Hosts.

Can not say it bothers me, main use for me is when doing reviews but often I look at the picture and can not work out from it which ones they were.

[Ange2]

@David126   Me too, many of my horizons and mountain vista's look exactly the same.

[Zoli3]

I fully agree with you.

[Allison116]

I agree it is wrong unless they also censor the hosts pictures too. If we cant see them prior to booking then they should not see us prior to booking. 

[David126]

@Allison116

Agree

[Kimberly54]

Hi @Allison116 and all,

I feel pretty strongly on this one--I think everyone should be able to see each other.  Trust, right?  Gotta start somewhere!

Best,

[Welcome0]

Yes, @Kimberly54 I agree. If I receive a request without a picture or profile, it annoys me. I question its authenticity. Maybe I am being hacked?!? Recently, I had such a request offering good money, but when I proceeded to follow up with questions, I never got a response. We do have a right to know who is going to be living under our roof! It is Airbnb responsibility to insure the picture, profile, Govt documents ID is already submitted before posting the request. It should not be up to me to do the research via chats and prompts with the potential guest. It sets up a negative relationship with the guest. Just saying.... 

[Cynthia214]

Amen!

[Ruthie10]

Totally agree....

[Allison2]

@Trevor26 - Well said!

The powers that be barely seem to glance at the forums, but they do pay a little more attention to Host Voice (aka screaming into the void?)

You may want to repost over there so other hosts can support your idea and call for change.

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Host-Voice/idb-p/host-voice

[Trevor26]

Thanks @Allison2. I followed your advice and posted there as well. 

[Isabel203]

All human being discriminate and I support AirBnB in working to understand how bias (implicit or conscious) affects their customers and in trying to minimize any inequity that results.  I agree that it is concerning that AirBnB is collecting data on on host and guest behaviour without their consent; but this is true of any platform you use for pretty much antything: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google, your smart phone/watch/tv, your iTunes account, your CAR! AT least in this case, it seems to have a potential benefit to its users.

[Trevor26]

@Isabel203, I also support efforts to curb discrimation as well as a comprehensive study on the subject, however, I strongly disagree with their aproach here. This isn't a case of just collecting data...it is a case of issuing a disability to hosts without consent or notification to study how they then react to censored profile photos. It makes me feel like a test rat rather than a trusted community participant. 

[Welcome0]

 Sorry, @Isabel ! There is no excuse to treat me like a #TestubeHost.