Guidelines for International Law Enforcement

The following information is provided specifically for law enforcement entities that seek information about Members of the Airbnb platform who reside outside the United States (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”).

We do not respond to requests for information and/or correspondence pertaining to the Airbnb platform from non-law enforcement entities and/or Members of our 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 FAQs are not intended as legal advice and we reserve 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 request for Member information (“Law Enforcement Request”).

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.

1. Overview of Law Enforcement Data Request Process

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.

The Law Enforcement Operations team has processes in place to assist law enforcement 24/7 through our dedicated Law Enforcement Portal at https://airbnb.com/lert. All requests for user 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 with the Portal in order to submit a Law Enforcement Request directly to this team for review. 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 or that do not use an official government-issued email address should expect longer response times.

Please ensure your request is addressed to the correct Airbnb entity:

2. Legal Requirements

The following guidelines apply to Law Enforcement Requests for user information from law enforcement entities located in countries other than the US. All such Law Enforcement Requests should be directed to the relevant Airbnb entity that is the data controller for your jurisdiction as listed in Section 1 above and Schedule 1 of our Privacy Policy. Airbnb Ireland UC and other Airbnb entities will respond to legally valid requests, to the extent permitted by its Terms of Service, Privacy Policy, these Law Enforcement Guidelines and applicable law.

The below requirements are based on our internal policies and procedures for handling Law Enforcement Requests. However, applicable laws and legal requirements for data disclosure may vary from one country to another and certain requested data may require additional legal process such as a court order, or equivalent.

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:

• Email: PDF copy of your request to leoinfo@airbnb.com. Note: We will only respond to emails received from official government law enforcement issued domains.
• Fax: If based in Japan fax a copy of your request to +81 353233055
• Mail: a copy of your request to the relevant Airbnb entity.

Airbnb is unable to process overly broad or vague Law Enforcement Requests, or Law Enforcement Requests that do not comply with applicable laws and/or our Privacy Policy. We will only consider Law Enforcement Requests that are:

1. Addressed to the appropriate Airbnb entity for your request (as outlined in Section 1 above), and submitted through the Portal.
2. Typed and in pdf file format.
3. On law enforcement entity letterhead, dated, duly signed and stamped by the appropriate law enforcement officer who is empowered by local law to represent the law enforcement entity that is making the request.
4. Compliant with all applicable laws. If you are unclear about the legal requirements related to your request, you should seek appropriate legal advice.
5. Preferably drafted in English or translated to English.

In order for Airbnb to review and evaluate your Law Enforcement Request, it must include the following information:

• Your name, title, and department; the law enforcement entity or agency you represent; and the law enforcement entity or agency’s street address, telephone number, and email address;
• All known email addresses, names, aliases, date of birth of the data subject about whom you seek information, and/or all known physical addresses and telephone numbers of the data subject. The reservation code and/or address of the Airbnb listing, if known. This helps Airbnb identify the data subject and/or Airbnb listing;
• The specific information about the data subject that you request; why you request this information; and how the information you request pertains to the alleged crime you are investigating;
• How the crime under investigation is connected to and/or relates to Airbnb (e.g if the alleged offense occurred during an Airbnb reservation);
• The alleged crime(s) under investigation and the relevant statutory provision(s) governing the offense. This enables Airbnb to understand the nature of the crime, including the seriousness of the offense and any related penalties;
• The legal basis (i.e. applicable act or law) under which you have the legal authority to seek the specific information you request, including the specific article, section or subsection that purports to compel Airbnb to make the data disclosure;
• Reasons and/or the applicable act or law, if any, for why Airbnb should not notify the relevant user that we have received a request for their data. Please see Airbnb’s Privacy Policy and in particular Section 4.5 on our policy for member notification;
• If your request is time sensitive, please note this in your request.

The above notwithstanding, Airbnb explicitly reserves the right to require the use of specific additional processes, or a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (“MLAT”) process, where applicable.

If you have questions about the legal requirements such as the relevant legal basis and/or statutory provision you should seek appropriate legal advice.

Note: 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.

3. Airbnb’s Member Notification

Under our Privacy Policy, Airbnb may notify affected Members of the request for their data unless there are valid and/or legal reasons not to do so, such as when the Law Enforcement request itself or applicable law prohibits such notification. When submitting a request via the Law Enforcement Portal, requestors may indicate if the nature of the request is one that should not include a user notification.

For Members resident in Brazil, an express order included in the Law Enforcement Request is considered sufficient.

Please see Section 4.5 of our Privacy Policy for further detail.

4. Emergency Requests

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 the ongoing emergency.

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 our verification email as quickly as possible.

Japan: If you are based in Japan and unable to access the Portal homepage or send an email, an alternative option is to fax your emergency disclosure request to +81353233055 when sending it to Airbnb GSL.

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.

• Data Subject Information: Names (legal name, Airbnb profile name, and/or any aliases, if known), date of birth, all known email addresses, telephone numbers, and/or all known physical addresses of the data subject about whom you seek information or the full address of Airbnb listing or reservation code, if known. This information helps Airbnb identify the correct data subject.
• Law Enforcement Information: Your name, law enforcement department, street address, accurate telephone number, fax number, and official government email address.
• Specific Questions Required in order to certify that the request, is in fact an emergency:
  • The nature of the emergency and imminent risk of death or serious physical injury to any person (eg: specific facts or circumstances of the emergency situation that define it as an emergency requiring an immediate response to prevent the harm);
  • Explain why you are requesting this information and the connection to Airbnb;
  • Explain how this information pertains to your investigation; and
  • Explain why the information you are requesting is urgent and cannot be obtained through the use of a standard Law Enforcement Request.

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 should immediately contact local law enforcement officials.

If you are unable to access the Portal homepage, we recommend sending an email with the subject line: “Emergency Disclosure Request”. Be aware that emergency disclosure requests sent via email must originate from an official law enforcement email domain and will require verification.

5. Cross-Border Information Requests

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.

6. Preservation Requests

Law enforcement may seek the preservation of account records for a specified period of time. Upon receipt of such a request, Airbnb may take 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 user’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.

7. Airbnb Policies and Terms of Services

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.

8. Frequently Asked Questions

How do I submit a law enforcement request for member data to 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.

What information can I request from Airbnb?

Airbnb cannot accept broad requests for information in relation to any of 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 user 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.

What information should a law enforcement official provide in order to identify a member?

In order for us to successfully identify a member, please include as many of the following pieces of information as possible (if known):

• Full name and/or known aliases
• Date of birth
• Phone number
• Email address
• Full address of Airbnb listing

If you are investigating credit card fraud or unauthorized transactions, please include the full card number, and the date and amount of the transaction

What does ‘legal basis’ refer to?

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.

Does Airbnb ever reject data requests from law enforcement?

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.

Will Airbnb notify Members of requests for account information?

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 your request 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.