Airbnb files lawsuit against New York City’s ‘unlawful’ host data rule
As previously hinted, Airbnb is suing New York City to stop the sharing platform being forced to hand over Airbnb hosts’ data.
The ordinance, which was passed by the New York City Council unanimously, takes effect later this year.
Airbnb claims it violates constitutional rights in the lawsuit.
"The ordinance is an unlawful end-run around established restraints on governmental action and violates core constitutional rights," the suit says.
It requires Airbnb to share all the names and addresses of its hosts with the New York City Office of Special Enforcement.
Airbnb and the city have had a tetchy relationship for years with Airbnb arguing the traditional hotel industry wields too much influence with lawmakers.
"The New York City Council is a wholly owned subsidiary of the hotel industry, and they aren’t interested in working together," said Chris Lehane, Airbnb’s head of global policy.
Still, Airbnb’s officially line is the ordnance won’t hurt its business, and doesn’t expect other cities to follow with similar regulation.
New York is one of the company’s biggest markets and like other major cities globally, is struggling with supply of affordable housing for residents.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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