Vancouver housing activist Rohana Rezel has had a beef with Airbnb and the City of Vancouver for years, and a B.C. Supreme Court ruling this week means there香蕉视频直播檚 no end in sight.
Rezel had made Freedom of Information requests to the city in 2019, seeking information about the hosts of short-term rentals. But the city and the company resisted, saying it could harm property owners, and make them susceptible to violence and even stalking.
British Columbia香蕉视频直播檚 Information and Privacy Commissioner agreed in part, but ordered the city to release information to Rezel including 香蕉视频直播渓icence numbers of individuals on the Airbnb platform, home addresses of all hosts in the City; and the licence numbers associated with those addresses.香蕉视频直播�
Airbnb objected to the city releasing the information and sought a judicial review in B.C. Supreme Court last year.
This week, Justice Jasvinder Basran sided with the company, ordering the privacy commissioner to reconsider its decision, and notify hosts whose information is at stake.
For Rezel, Airbnb hosts in Vancouver are 香蕉视频直播渁 select group of people to run a business in such secrecy.香蕉视频直播�
He said he wanted to uncover information about short-term rentals because people should be able to know if they香蕉视频直播檝e been evicted to make way for an Airbnb, and they should know if they香蕉视频直播檙e living next to one.
香蕉视频直播淚香蕉视频直播檝e been helping a lot of people who香蕉视频直播檝e been evicted to make way for Airbnb and a lot of the times people don香蕉视频直播檛 even know that the reason that they have been evicted is because of Airbnb,香蕉视频直播� Rezel said in an interview on Thursday.
香蕉视频直播淧eople suspect that, but they have no way of knowing that for sure and they would come to me and (have) to use indirect means to figure that out.香蕉视频直播�
Rezel said the City of Vancouver香蕉视频直播檚 reluctance to release information about hosts and their short-term rentals makes it difficult to prove a wrongful eviction.
香蕉视频直播淣ow imagine if this data was publicly available,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淭hen if you get an eviction notice, three months later you can look this up and you can see well, they evicted me, but then they applied for a license.香蕉视频直播�
Airbnb this week won its case to have Rezel香蕉视频直播檚 request reconsidered, but the activist had no involvement in the case, identified only as a 香蕉视频直播淛ohn Doe Requester.香蕉视频直播�
He said the company had sought costs involved in the judicial review, which he wouldn香蕉视频直播檛 have been able to cover if he香蕉视频直播檇 participated.
An affidavit submitted to the privacy commissioner by the city had described social media posts that were 香蕉视频直播渙bscene, aggressive, and threatening香蕉视频直播� toward operators of short-term rentals, to demonstrate the potential harm from releasing the information.
The judge香蕉视频直播檚 decision says the privacy commissioner wrongly classified home addresses as business information rather than personal information since Airbnb hosts run home-based businesses in their principal residences.
The privacy commissioner香蕉视频直播檚 finding that licence numbers 香蕉视频直播渁re personal information, but principal residence addresses are not, is confounding,香蕉视频直播� Basran wrote.
香蕉视频直播淭he latter has a much closer connection to the personal lives and details of the hosts. (Short-term rental licence) numbers, hosts香蕉视频直播� principal residence addresses, and the acknowledged ability of anyone to find the names of individual hosts, in and of itself, constitutes the disclosure of a wide range of personal information,香蕉视频直播� the ruling states. 香蕉视频直播淭aken cumulatively, it would enable the discovery of a treasure trove of personal information.香蕉视频直播�
Rezel said he was disappointed by the ruling, which means he香蕉视频直播檒l have to wait even longer to see if he can access information about short-term rentals in Vancouver in the midst of a housing crisis.
香蕉视频直播淚 firmly believe that you can香蕉视频直播檛 have one set of businesses that are playing by the rules and then another set of businesses that are able to operate in secrecy,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 almost as if it香蕉视频直播檚 a two-tier system.香蕉视频直播�
Airbnb did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the court ruling.
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