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In recent years, we have witnessed a rise in the popularity of net- worked hospitality services (NHSs), an online marketplace for short-term peer- to-peer accommodations. Such systems, however, raise significant privacy con- cerns, because service providers such as Airbnb and 9flats can easily collect the precise and personal information of millions of participating hosts and guests through their centralized online platforms. In this paper, we propose PrivateNH, a privacy-enhancing and practical solution that offers anonymity and accountabil- ity for NHS users without relying on any trusted third party. PrivateNH leverages the recent progress of Bitcoin techniques such as Colored Coins and CoinShuffle to generate and maintain anonymous credentials for NHS participants. The cre- dential holders (NHS hosts or guests) can then lease or rent short-term lodging and interact with the service provider in an anonymous and accountable man- ner. An anonymous and secure reputation system is also introduced to establish the trust between unfamiliar hosts and guests in a peer-to-peer fashion. The pro- posed scheme is compatible with the current Bitcoin blockchain system, and its effectiveness and feasibility in NHS scenario are also demonstrated by security analysis and performance evaluation.
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Well-intended but half-hearted: Hosts’ consideration of guests’ privacy using smart devices on rental properties
The increased use of smart home devices (SHDs) on short- term rental (STR) properties raises privacy concerns for guests. While previous literature identifies guests’ privacy concerns and the need to negotiate guests’ privacy prefer- ences with hosts, there is a lack of research from the hosts’ perspectives. This paper investigates if and how hosts con- sider guests’ privacy when using their SHDs on their STRs, to understand hosts’ willingness to accommodate guests’ pri- vacy concerns, a starting point for negotiation. We conducted online interviews with 15 STR hosts (e.g., Airbnb/Vrbo), find- ing that they generally use, manage, and disclose their SHDs in ways that protect guests’ privacy. However, hosts’ prac- tices fell short of their intentions because of competing needs and goals (i.e., protecting their property versus protecting guests’ privacy). Findings also highlight that hosts do not have proper support from the platforms on how to navigate these competing goals. Therefore, we discuss how to improve platforms’ guidelines/policies to prevent and resolve conflicts with guests and measures to increase engagement from both sides to set ground for negotiation.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1955805
- PAR ID:
- 10618339
- Publisher / Repository:
- USENIX
- Date Published:
- ISBN:
- 978-1-939133-42-7
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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