Worried your Airbnb host has hidden a camera somewhere? Try this

After reading about the German woman who discovered a carefully hidden camera in her California Airbnb rental, we all probably mentally reviewed our own Airbnb stays, wondering whether we could've been secretly recorded too. Yvonne Schumacher has since filed a lawsuit against Airbnb, but even if the company has to cut a check for damages, that doesn't necessarily restore her peace of mind.

Although Airbnb says it expects its hosts to "respect their guests' privacy," it does not have any restrictions on recording devices in properties that are rented through the site, nor does it specifically forbid its hosts from using any kind of hidden (or fully visible) cameras to observe their guests. So what can you do if you're afraid that your host has tucked a Dropcam somewhere in your bedroom or behind a bathroom cabinet? Berlin-based "countersurveillance artist" Julian Oliver has a solution.

Oliver has written dropkick.sh, a script for Linux or OS X that can detect and disable any Wi-Fi enabled cameras that are detected on a local network. He told Motherboard:

"I was pretty horrified to read of so many (women in particular) having their privacy strategically abused, enabled by this new family of devices. I thought now's the time to sit down for an hour and push out a script."

Running the script does require a bit of computer competence — and it should also be used at your own risk. Although your Airbnb host might not be violating any laws by filming you while you eat a bowl of Golden Grahams, the Federal Communications Commission might take issue with your willingness to disable that camera. Oliver explains that a recent change to FCC regulations means that intentionally deauthenticating a Wi-Fi network is considered "jamming," a tech-related offense that could come with a significant penalty (just ask Hilton or Marriott).