Airbnb guests finding hidden cameras in their rentals

Photo / CBS News/Meghan Hilden

Airbnb is investigating complaints from several customers who have reported finding hidden cameras in their rentals.

Speaking to CBS News in the US, the company said it "takes privacy extremely seriously" and is looking at the complaints received.

Any cameras left on properties listed on Airbnb must be specifically disclosed by hosts.

While homes listed on Airbnb can have security cameras that are specified in the listing, these are "never allowed in bathrooms or bedrooms".

However, that has not been the experience of some of the renters through the website.

"I was like this could be like the day that I get killed or worse, I don't know," Meghan Hilden told CBS News.

When she travelled to Switzerland in 2016 with a friend, they discovered a cellphone under the sink in the bathroom of their Airbnb.

Not long after, they also found an iPad recording their every move inside the home.

"We saw that the phone was filming and we were whispering and trying to be very quiet. We weren't sure if it was being live streamed," Hilden said.

They left the house soon after.

Hilden was reimbursed by Airbnb and paid for other travel expenses but still feels more needs to be done.

"I think that was probably the bare minimum of what they could have done to help us out. For all we know he still has the videos that were on the iPad," she added.

Similar incidents have been shared by other users on social media.

Last month, activist and filmmaker Jason Scott tweeted that his colleague found a camera disguised in a motion detector at an Airbnb.

Last June, a German tourist settled with Airbnb for an undisclosed sum after allegedly finding a hidden "remote-controlled camera" at a California home.

About two million people use Airbnb globally.