The American justice temporarily suspends the obligation made to Airbnb to communicate to the city of New York the list of its hosts.
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This is a stage victory for the seasonal rental platform, in its second destination after Paris. The American justice temporarily suspended, Thursday, the obligation made to Airbnb to communicate the list of its hosts to the city of New York.
The regulatory soap opera dates back to last summer. Under a decree signed in early August 2018 by Mayor Bill de Blasio, data communication was to become mandatory in early February for all short-term accommodation sites. Several New York elected officials demanded this long-standing order, claiming that the emergence of Airbnb had significantly worsened the housing crisis in “Big Apple”. It had the effect, according to them, of leaving the apartments of the ordinary rental stock, which were no longer rented except to passing visitors, most often tourists.
At the end of August, Airbnb counter-attacked by seizing federal justice: the American group then argued that the decree violated the American Constitution by claiming private data provided by its users, which it had undertaken not to disseminate. .
Pending a substantive examination
But on Thursday, Manhattan federal judge Paul Engelmayer temporarily suspended the order, pending a substantive review. He nevertheless cracked a judgment of more than 50 pages in which he considers that the city of New York violates the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution. It also accepts Airbnb’s arguments that the amount of data requested by the city is too large, and also dismisses almost all justifications of the municipality.
“We think we will win in the end,” responded Bill de Blasio at a press conference Thursday. “This law aims to prevent owners from creating de facto hotels, which is unfair and illegal,” he added.
“Today’s ruling is a major victory for Airbnb and its users, including the thousands of New Yorkers who use Airbnb to make ends meet and were threatened with illegal surveillance,” Airbnb commented, in a statement sent to the ‘AFP. “The court today recognized the fundamental importance of the constitutional rights of New Yorkers and the sanctity of their homes,” the platform added.
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