Family Shocked To Find Hidden Camera In Living Room Of Their Airbnb

A family from New Zealand was shocked to discover that there was a hidden camera live-streaming their activities when they checked into an Airbnb in Cork, Ireland. Andrew Barker, who was with his wife Nealie, their niece, and their four children on a 14-month trip across Europe, discovered the camera when he scanned the home's Wi-Fi network. He noticed a device named "IP Camera" and was able to connect to it on his phone. He was horrified when he saw himself on the camera.

His family was able to locate the camera, which was disguised in the living room as a smoke detector. They called the person who listed the house on Airbnb, but he denied having any knowledge of the camera and hung up on them. They tried to work with Airbnb, but the company did not provide much help, though they did temporarily suspend the host's listings on the site.

The family was not comfortable staying in the house and found a nearby hotel.

The host later admitted to setting up the camera, but would not say if it was the only one he had installed. Nealie wrote on Facebook that Airbnb conducted an investigation and initially exonerated the host and put his listings back up on the site.

"The Airbnb safety team investigated our complaint (we provided photos and snapshot of video feed). Their "thorough" investigation which didn't include any follow-up with us exonerated the host, no explanation provided. The listing (with hidden camera not mentioned) is still on Airbnb."

After the post went viral, Airbnb reopened the investigation and banned the host from their site.

"The safety and privacy of our community -- both online and offline -- is our priority. Airbnb policies strictly prohibit hidden cameras in listings, and we take reports of any violations extremely seriously. We have permanently removed this bad actor from our platform," the company said in a statement to CNN. "Our original handling of this incident did not meet the high standards we set for ourselves, and we have apologized to the family and fully refunded their stay. There have been over half a billion guest arrivals in Airbnb listings to date, and negative incidents are incredibly rare."

The family continued on their whirlwind journey across Europe and is still using Airbnb, but says they are being extremely careful now when they check into new places.

"We've become much more cautious now," Nealie said. "We think people need to realize that the travel market is largely unregulated and if you would take issue with being filmed, then you need to take all steps properly."