Chinese province asks home-sharing platforms to hand over guest and host information to authorities

China’s home-sharing platforms, including Airbnb, will soon be covered by the public security authority’s mass surveillance network as the first regulations governing online home rentals come into force in early 2019.

China’s coastal Zhejiang province recently launched a registration policy for home-sharing businesses, requiring all platforms to submit information on apartments for rent, hosts and guests to the local public security authority from January 1.

Under the policy, home-sharing platforms are required to check, register and report to the Zhejiang Public Security Department on the location of the apartments for rent as well as provide the name, contact and identity information of both apartment owners and guests. The check in and departure time of guests also needs reporting.

The policy, the first of its kind in China, brings those involved in the home sharing business in Zhejiang province under the same rules that have applied to the country’s hotel industry for decades.

The new policy comes amid rising concerns over potential public security challenges brought by the online home-sharing model, which allows homeowners to rent apartments to strangers without meeting offline. A notice published by the official site of the Zhejiang Public Security Department on Friday said the policy aims to safeguard the operational safety of the home-sharing business as well as protect social order.