In October 2013, NY State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman issued a sweeping subpoena seeking identification, financial, and other information on effectively all New York Airbnb “Hosts,” those users offering living space for rent. The attorney general explained in later legal filings that he was seeking such information because he believed that some of Airbnb’s Hosts had violated state occupancy and tax laws.  However, the subpoena sought information about all Hosts that offered accommodations in New York from 2010 to the present, making no effort to exclude those users who plainly fell outside the laws at issue.

EFF and the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) have filed a friend-of-the-court brief supporting Airbnb’s petition to set aside the sweeping subpoena.