These Guidelines describe how Airbnb responds to data requests from Law Enforcement authorized to seek information about Members of the Airbnb platform, in connection with an official criminal investigation.
If you reside outside of the United States, such as in the European Economic Area (“EEA”), Canada, the Asia-Pacific region or South America please visit our Guidelines for International Law Enforcement page for specific information on how to request data from Airbnb.
The following information is provided specifically for law enforcement entities that seek information about Members of the Airbnb platform in connection with a lawful, official criminal investigation (i.e., would like to submit a “Law Enforcement Request”). All such Law Enforcement Requests must be submitted via our dedicated Airbnb Law Enforcement Portal (“the Portal”). Information requests from City or County Attorneys, code enforcement agencies, and other governmental entities conducting civil investigations are not considered “Law Enforcement” for purposes of this Portal. Airbnb does not accept service of legal process from such entities through the Portal.
We do not respond to requests for information and/or correspondence pertaining to the Airbnb platform from non-law enforcement entities or our Members of the Airbnb platform. All such enquiries should be directed to Airbnb’s Help Center.
If your request relates to an Emergency involving an imminent risk of death or serious physical injury to any person, please refer to Section 4 below (“Emergency Requests”) for details of how to submit such a request.
These guidelines and the accompanying frequently asked questions (FAQs) are not intended as legal advice and Airbnb reserves the right to make changes to the information on this page at any time without notice. You should review this page each time you are submitting a Law Enforcement Request for Member information.
For the purposes of these guidelines, where it mentions, “Airbnb”, “we”, “us” or “our”, it refers to the Airbnb entity that is responsible for the Members information under our Privacy Policy, Schedule 1 and any other Airbnb entities that may exist at any such point in time. Each of these Airbnb entities are separate and individual entities.
Airbnb has a dedicated global Law Enforcement Operations team that evaluates and reviews each law enforcement request for legal validity in accordance with our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, these Law Enforcement Guidelines, and applicable laws and regulations.
This team has processes in place to assist law enforcement 24/7 through our dedicated Law Enforcement Portal at https://airbnb.com/lert. All Law Enforcement Requests for Member data must be submitted via the Portal. All law enforcement officials that are authorized to seek information about Members of the Airbnb platform, in connection with a lawful official criminal investigation, should select their preferred language, register, and create an account in the Portal in order to submit a Law Enforcement Request. Law enforcement officials may then update and/or track the status of a Law Enforcement Request and communicate directly with the Law Enforcement Operations team through their dedicated and password protected account.
Note: To create an account in the Portal, it is mandatory to use an official government-issued email address that is directly associated with the law enforcement official’s agency. Law enforcement officials who do not submit Law Enforcement Requests through the Portal should expect longer response times.
Please ensure your request for data of Members located in the United States is addressed to the Airbnb Inc., 888 Brannan Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. For further data request legal requirements please refer to Section 2 below.
We receive and respond to legally valid requests for user information on a regular basis. Our Law Enforcement Transparency Reports, which are published annually in accordance with our Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, and Law Enforcement Guidelines, offer insights into the type and volume of requests we receive from law enforcement globally.
The following materials are required for a US Law Enforcement Request to be valid:
If you have questions about these legal requirements, you should seek appropriate legal advice. The above notwithstanding, Airbnb, Inc. explicitly reserves the right to require the use of specific additional processes, where applicable.
Law Enforcement Requests must be submitted through the Portal. Only if you are unable to submit your request through the Portal, you may notify Airbnb of your request by emailing a pdf copy of your request to leoinfo@airbnb.com or mailing a copy of your request to Airbnb Inc., 888 Brannan Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. Note: We will only respond to emails received from official government law enforcement issued domains.
Data disclosed in response to a legally valid request will be securely uploaded to the requesting law enforcement officials Portal account in excel pdf format.
Please note that Airbnb, Inc. has a policy of using reasonable efforts to notify affected Members when it receives a valid US Law Enforcement Request seeking Member data. Airbnb, Inc. will notify the relevant Member(s) identified in the Law Enforcement Request, in case the Member wishes to seek appropriate protective relief, except where a separate court order (not just the Law Enforcement Request itself) expressly requires Airbnb, Inc. to delay or withhold notification; where notification is otherwise prohibited by law; or where Airbnb, Inc., in its sole discretion, believes that providing notice would be futile, ineffective, or would create a risk of injury or bodily harm to an individual or group or create or increase a risk of fraud upon or harm to Airbnb, or Members of our platform, or expose Airbnb to a claim of obstruction of justice.
All delayed notification and non-disclosure orders issued to Airbnb, Inc. must comply with 18 USC § 2705(b). In addition to meeting all other legal requirements, any court order precluding member notification under this section must include a judicial determination that there is reason to believe that notification of the existence of the court order will have one or more of the following adverse results, as set forth in the statute:
In order to be valid, all non-disclosure orders must identify the period during which the non-disclosure order is effective.
Consistent with its policy of providing notice to Members of US Law Enforcement Requests that implicate their Member data, Airbnb, Inc. may request that the government initiate judicial review of any non-disclosure order issued in connection with a national security letter.
Airbnb has processes in place to promptly respond to emergency requests on a 24/7 basis. Airbnb may disclose Member information voluntarily when we have reason to believe, in good faith, that there is an emergency involving an imminent risk of death or serious physical injury to any person and disclosure without delay is required to avert harm.
Law enforcement authorities may submit an Emergency Disclosure Request directly through the Portal, by clicking on the “Emergency Request” button available on the Portal homepage. These emergency requests are prioritized for expedited disclosure, and once they are received by the Law Enforcement Operations team, the requesting law enforcement official will receive an email verification. Please respond to the verification email as quickly as possible.
To ensure your emergency request can be assessed and satisfied quickly, please provide as much information as possible ‘in the emergency request form’, in the Portal, in particular the following details below should be provided.
It may be necessary for us to follow-up with the requesting law enforcement official if information is missing from the request or if further clarification is required. Accordingly, accurate contact information must be provided so we can follow up quickly.
Airbnb Members or non-law enforcement third parties who are aware of an emergency situation with a nexus to Airbnb should immediately contact local law enforcement officials.
If you are unable to access the Portal homepage, send an email with the subject line: “Emergency Disclosure Request”. Be aware that emergency disclosure requests sent via email must originate from an official government law enforcement email domain and will require verification.
All requests for member information should be issued according to the processes outlined above and must comply with relevant law. Depending on the circumstances and the information sought, Airbnb may require the requesting law enforcement entity to follow relevant cross-border legal processes, such as the procedure set out in a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (“MLAT”), in order to obtain a relevant court order in the jurisdiction where the law enforcement entity seeks information.
If you have questions about the legal requirements that apply to your Law Enforcement Request, you should seek appropriate legal advice.
Law enforcement may seek the preservation of account records for a specified period of time. Upon receipt of such a request, Airbnb may take reasonable steps to preserve any records or other information in its possession regarding the subject of the preservation request, pending the issuance of legal process. A preservation is a one-time “snapshot” of the records or content in an Airbnb member’s account at the time we receive the preservation request; it is not an ongoing, real-time preservation of those records. Airbnb reserves the right to reject preservation requests for any reason.
Certain activities and behaviors are not allowed on Airbnb. When Airbnb is made aware of such activity, we may take action in accordance with our Community Policies, Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, which may include canceling ongoing or upcoming reservations, account and/or listing suspension, and/or deactivation from Airbnb. Please see Airbnb’s Community Policies for details of illegal activities and other behaviors that are not allowed by Airbnb.
Legal process, emergency requests and/or general inquiries should be submitted via Airbnb’s Law Enforcement Portal. The Portal allows Airbnb’s specialized Law Enforcement Operations team to review and respond to the requesting law enforcement officer directly and securely on a 24/7 basis.
Airbnb cannot accept broad requests for information in relation to our Members. In your request please provide the specific information you require, narrowed to within a relevant and reasonable timeframe connected to the crime under investigation, and explain how that specific information relates to Airbnb and will assist you with your investigation.
The categories of personal data that may be produced in response to a data request include:
Basic Subscriber Information
This refers to the registration information an Airbnb member enters when they sign up to our platform, User’s Airbnb ID number, user account name, email address, and phone number.
Please note that Airbnb Members create their accounts and listings themselves and that the information we have in our database is user-generated content, the veracity of which we do not verify.
Payment Information
This includes the payment instrument a guest used to pay for a reservation on our platform. It may also refer to the bank account that an Airbnb Host receives payments for reservations to.
Reservation and transactional information
This includes dates of reservations, number of guests, address of listing, and amounts paid.
Contents of Communication
This includes messages sent between host and guest on our platform. Note this type of data may require additional legal documentation.
Please note that in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, certain requested data may require additional legal process such as a court order, or equivalent.
In order for us to successfully identify a user, please include as many of the following pieces of information as possible (if known):
It is the legal provision under the laws of your country (such as may be provided for in criminal procedure codes or similar statutes) which authorize you to seek the production of the information from a third party entity such as Airbnb for the purposes of preventing, detecting and/or investigating criminal offenses. The legal basis required depends on jurisdiction. Please note that this is generally not the same as the legal provision under which the crime being investigated is an offense.
You may also seek to rely on provisions set out in your country’s data protection/privacy legislation that provides an exemption for such purposes.
After carefully reviewing all legal requests for legal validity and compliance with applicable laws, if Airbnb determines that there is no valid legal basis or where the request is overly-broad, vague or inappropriate, Airbnb will reject, challenge, object the request or seek additional information or amendments to the request.
It is Airbnb’s policy to use reasonable efforts to notify affected Members when it receives a valid Law Enforcement Request seeking user data except where the law enforcement request and/or court order expressly requires Airbnb to delay or withhold notification; where notification is otherwise prohibited by law; or where Airbnb in its sole discretion, believes that providing notice would be futile, ineffective, or would create a risk of injury or bodily harm to an individual or group, or to its property.
Please see our Privacy Policy for more details.