Sister changed in front of CCTV camera in an Airbnb hosted by a lawyer!

Update 16/3/2025

As per this Aribnb Policy, cameras are not allowed inside the listing regardless of their disclosure. Airbnb called me and agreed that the host has violated the terms and conditions in writing as well. They also offered me a 300$ coupon for one of their customer service representatives incorrectly telling me that cameras are allowed inside the property if it is mentioned in the listing (I did not ask for this). This was incorrect information provided by them. The case is now transferred to Airbnb's safety team where they are exploring the possibility of getting the listing removed as it was in clear violation of their terms and conditions. Also, if anyone is interested to see how the host tried to play it smart and add indoor cameras to the listing despite it not being allowed, you can see See this image from the listing

Thanks to everyone who understood the gravity of the situation and supported me. There were many comments from other's that said I am dumb, my sister is dumb, I am blowing this out of proportion, I should be a man, my sister should have changed in the bathroom etc. I have replied to all these negative comments separately. But if you are one of them who still feels that the host was right and I am being stupid, I hope that someday when your wife/sister/mother/daughter changes in front of a camera without realizing it, you maintain the same stance instead and blame them instead of the host; because as per you, the host was not to blame. I do pity the women in your life because you are not going to protect them if they ever face a situation like this.

Original post :

I was not going to share this with anyone but I need some advice.

We booked an Airbnb in India. Listing was for a shared room but host said I could use the entire property during my booking. Host gave us a walkthrough of the entire property explaining every small detail, but did not mention anything about indoor CCTV cameras inside the living room and kitchen.

I was fast asleep in the bedroom so my sister went to the living room to change to not wake me up. She was shocked to see the CCTV camera after she finished changing. I immediately messaged the host telling him that he did not mention anything about the CCTV camera to us. His first reaction was it's mentioned in the listing that common areas have a CCTV camera. I checked the listing and after going through it 3-4 times, I was finally able to find that the "Exterior security cameras on property" had mentioned that there are cameras in the living room and kitchen (what a contradiction?) I tried to call him but he did not answer saying he is in a meeting. When he finally answered, he focused more on defending himself and asked me what would I like to do? Do I want to checkout etc. I had to tell him the obvious thing to do which is to delete the recordings immediately. He said the recordings are locally stored on a memory card in the camera. He said he would come down to format it. (All this sounds super shady. Not emphasizing about the cameras in the listing, not informing about the cameras during the walkthrough, and then acting so careless when the cameras were discovered).

Meanwhile, I went to the police station and explained the situation. The owner called me and I asked him to come to the police station. He came there and the cops told him he cannot have cameras inside the house and that he should mention more clearly about these cameras etc. They sent someone from the cybercrime branch with us to the house again and this guy from the cybercrime asked the owner to show him the recordings but the owner had formatted the card without even taking consent. (I am not complaining as I don't want a random cop to see my sister change). My sister and I had paid 30k for an event which we were getting late for. Seeing that the cameras and the memory cards have been confiscated by the cops, we left for our event. The cops assured us that this is local camera with no cloud backup and that the recordings have been deleted. They also told us that we should fearlessly stay in the Airbnb if we want to rather than finding another accommodation and they will patrol the area regularly today. They shared their numbers with us as well to call them. We decided to stay at the Airbnb as we had quite a busy schedule ahead of us the next day as well.

Fast forward to today, we are back home. And now Airbnb from Toronto (not sure why Toronto?) keeps calling me saying that the host is upset that despite mentioning that the property has indoor cameras and hosting us, the cops are calling him to the police station for investigation. They tried to push me to say that I don't have any grievances so that they can tell the cops the same. They also told me that the cops are asking for my id to the host and can we share the same, which I denied straight off. Meanwhile, the host messaged me saying that if I am convinced that the videos are deleted, I should email the cops and tell them that. I messaged him back saying that I will speak to the cops and do what they tell me to do. I called the cybercrime guy and he told me not to send any such email as yet. So I didn't send this email. Both Aribnb and the host are trying to make me close this grievance.

Since the cops have already assured me that the content has been deleted, I don't see a reason to keep this complaint open; however, the cops haven't really called me to ask me if I want to keep the complaint open or close it. Probably because I am back to my hometown where their jurisdiction does not apply?

Since the host is a lawyer, he is playing his cards right for sure. I on the other hand am not sure how to proceed from here. Airbnb seems to be supporting the host and pushing me to close the grievance. One mistake I made was that I texted the host saying that I don't have any grievance if the cops confirm that the recordings are 100% deleted. This was because I was getting frustrated with the constant calls. I realize now he can use that message to tell the cops and no more investigation?

How do I proceed from here? I honestly don't want to pursue this if the videos have been deleted. But a part of me also feels that his host is super sly and surely had ill intentions. He had excellent reviews and not a single mention of the cameras, which is what made me book the place.