Starting on Jan. 31, 2022, Airbnb will hide the names of guests until their booking request is complete. Until then, hosts will only be able to see the initials of a prospective customer.
The move comes as the company attempts to deal with discrimination from hosts on its site for guests who live in Oregon.
The new policy will stay in place for at least two years.
“While we have made progress, we have much more to do and continue working with our hosts and guests, and with civil rights leaders to make our community more inclusive,” Airbnb stated.
The new policy is one response by the company after three Black women, from Portland, sued. They said that the rental site’s use of names and pictures permitted racial discrimination to take place.
A prior Harvard Business review showed that guests with African-American-sounding names were 16% less likely to be accepted than guests with white-sounding names.
The suit was settled in 2019.
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