Airbnb's new policy of not showing guest photographs before confirmed reservations is not a good one.
I had a booking confirmed and the photograph that came through later was of a dog!! Some ill-mannered adult thought it was cute to have a dog as their profile photo. I promptly called Airbnb and asked them to cancel the booking because I dont rent to dogs! They explained that while they request a photo, the guest does not have to comply and can place a photo of anything on their profile. What kind of nonsense is that? WHY IS MY PHOTO AVAILABLE TO THE GUEST AND NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND? They did offer to not penalize me for the cancellation! Really???
Airbnb is not doing enough to minimize the risk to their hosts. This guest had the nerve to be upset because I told them I would not accept a booking from anyone whose facial identity is unrecognizable. And when I do have a facial photo, that is the face I expect to show up on the day of check in, else I will call the police to minimize potential trouble.