Housing agency Airbnb is testing an “anti-party tool” in the USA and Canada. This is to avoid people renting accommodations for house parties against company rules and potentially leaving damages behind.
At the start of the pandemic, Airbnb imposed a worldwide ban on parties and events at its advertised accommodations and made this permanent “until further notice” at the beginning of the year due to positive experiences. Meanwhile, reservations for more than 16 people have been suspended.
Preventive booking ban
The system is said to be “filtering high-risk bookings,” which parties are very likely to have, according to the company. Factors such as guest reviews, account creation date, length of stay, day of the week, and distance from home are taken into account. In the event that the system rejects the reservation, the rejected guests should instead be granted accommodations with a host or hotel rooms.
A similar liquidation process has been tested in Australia since October 2013 and has reduced the number of illegal parties by more than a third, according to the platform. Since 2020, guests under the age of 25 have been evaluated separately.
The Financial Times sees similarities with the minority report
The Financial Times compared the new rules to the movie Minority Report, where the “Primary Crimes” department is supposed to use insights to prevent crimes. On the other hand, Airbnb emphasized that they want to “make the platform safe for everyone”.
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