Been a super host for Airbnbfor many years now and was stunned recently to find that Airbnb has locked me completely out of my account. All for not submitting a copy of my government ID to a third party called Jumio.com.
I am still getting paid for reservations completed but I have no access to my reservations, communications and new bookings. I have lost several new bookings so far because I can not respond to them.
This is completely ridiculous and it shows how Airbnb grows more like the Gestapo every day.
I have been a victim of fraud before and being a security conscious person, I will not give my Photo ID to anyone to keep on their servers.
This article voices a lot of my concerns.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/kris-constable/airbnb-privacy-security-id-jumio_b_4887509.html
Here is Airbnb’s response.
Thank you for your patience while I gathered this information for you. The ID verification process is often a requirement for guests booking a hosts home (as we had discussed), but can also be required of hosts. In this particular case, it appears that the request for your ID to be verified was sent deliberately and would need to be completed to gain access to your account.
I know you had expressed concern about the security of your information, which is a very valid concern in todays world, but I can assure you that every possible step is taken to safeguard any information you share with Airbnb. We work with a third party provider to process those requests, more details about them below.
Here is a link to Jumio’s website with some information about their technology and security.
https://www.jumio.com/jumio/technology-and-security/
This help center article provides some more details regarding our security on a high-level. Based on our short call I believe that this would knowledge already available to you, but I wanted to include it for reference in case it is needed.
Is providing identification to Airbnb secure?
https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/453
As Airbnb grows, so does the importance of building trust and transparency in our community. Under certain circumstances, that means we’ll ask you to complete Verified ID—even if you’ve been with us for a long time. You can read more about who’s required to complete Verified ID here: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/464
As an experienced host, completing Verified ID also gives you the option to require potential guests to complete it as well: https://www.airbnb.com/help/article/272.
Once this process has been completed, you would not be asked to send or verify that ID again, of course.
Please let me know if you have any questions. Since I have a limited view on many of these elements my responses might be delayed so that I can get that information to you.
If you would like time to consider your options I would be glad to temporarily unlist your property if you are concerned about missing any messages from guests or responding to inquiries. I can also send you your guests contact numbers if you need a copy of those upcoming guests contact details.
If Airbnb thinks they are the only game in town, they are crazy. I am very active on VRBO and Flipkey which get more than enough bookings. I am even thinking of renting full time to get out of this mess that gets more difficult every day.
If you have not been required to submit your ID yet how long do you think it will before they demand it from you too?