Smart Home Disclosure for Guests

A guest pulls into the driveway at 11pm, sees a Ring doorbell blink, then walks past a porch light that snaps on by itself. Inside, the Ecobee Premium thermostat already shows 71 because something pre-cooled the place. None of that was in the listing. By the time they get to the welcome book, they have already messaged you wanting to know exactly what is watching them. That is the conversation a clear smart home disclosure for guests prevents. You are not hiding anything anyway, so write it down once, put it in front of them before they book, and stop fielding the same question every other stay.

This is a working template, not a legal document. The goal is a short, plain-English statement that lists every smart device on the property, what it does, and what data it collects, written in a way a non-technical guest can read in under two minutes. It pairs with a written short-term rental privacy policy for smart devices for hosts who want a longer reference document on file.

Who actually needs to write one of these

If your property has anything more advanced than a regular deadbolt and a thermostat with a dial, you need a written disclosure. That includes the obvious stuff like a Schlage Encode keypad lock or a Ring Battery Doorbell Plus, but also the quieter devices guests rarely think about: a Minut or NoiseAware sensor in the living room, a Nest Learning Thermostat or Ecobee Premium that you can adjust from your phone, a Moen Flo leak sensor under the sink, an Aqara door sensor on the back gate, or even a TP-Link Kasa smart plug controlling a lamp on a schedule.

Airbnb, VRBO, and Booking.com all require disclosure of any device that records audio, video, or detects sound levels, regardless of whether it is currently turned on. Many cities and several U.S. states have stricter recording laws. Disclosure is the floor, not the ceiling, but writing one good document covers most of your obligations across platforms. For the platform-by-platform breakdown, our guide to which sensors Airbnb actually allows covers the current rules.

What a good disclosure includes

A useful disclosure answers four questions for each device: where it is, what it does, what it collects, and how the guest controls it. Anything else is filler. Below is the structure I use across every listing I help set up. The same four columns drive the broader Airbnb smart device disclosure framework we recommend for multi-property operators.

Device name and location. “Ring Battery Doorbell Plus at front entry,” not “security camera.” Vague language scares people.
What it does. Records video and audio when motion is detected, lasts about 20 seconds per clip.
What it collects and where it goes. Footage stored on Ring cloud for 30 days, only the host has access, not shared with cleaners.
What the guest controls. The doorbell button still works for visitors; the camera cannot be disabled by the guest.

That last bullet matters more than people realize. Guests get nervous when they think a device is watching them and they have no way to opt out. Telling them “this device cannot record indoors” or “the Minut sensor only triggers at decibel thresholds, never records audio” lowers the temperature instantly. The same logic shapes our recommended guest-friendly smart home device list — pick gear that makes disclosure easy.

A copy-paste disclosure template

Here is the template. Drop it into your listing description, your house manual, and the auto-message you send between booking and check-in. Use the same wording in all three places so nothing reads as a surprise.

Smart devices in this home:

Front door — smart lock (Schlage Encode keypad). You receive a unique code valid only for your stay. The lock logs when codes are entered. No camera or microphone.
Front porch — Ring Battery Doorbell Plus. Records short video clips with audio when motion is detected outside the front door. Footage is reviewed only if there is a security or delivery question. Clips auto-delete after 30 days.
Driveway — Eufy Floodlight Cam. Records when motion is detected in the driveway. Same retention as the doorbell.
Living room — Minut noise level sensor. Measures decibel levels only. It does not record sound and cannot be used to listen to conversations. Alerts the host if loud volumes continue past 10pm.
Hallway — Ecobee Premium thermostat. You can adjust freely between 65 and 78. The built-in microphone is disabled. Settings reset after checkout.
Under sinks and near water heater — Moen Flo leak sensors. Alerts the host if water is detected. No audio or video.
Living room and bedroom — Philips Hue bulbs and TP-Link Kasa plugs. Used by the host for energy schedules. Guests can turn them on and off normally.

What we do not have: indoor cameras, indoor microphones, occupancy or person-counting sensors, or any device that records audio or video inside the home. Per HomeScript Labs editorial policy, we recommend hosts never install indoor recording devices regardless of platform rules. The reasoning sits in our ethical Airbnb monitoring framework.

Where to publish your disclosure

The Airbnb listing page. Use the dedicated “Safety devices” section in your listing settings. Tick every device that applies and write the location of each in the description box. This is the version that affects search filtering and trust badges.
Your house rules. Paste the device list under a “Smart home devices” heading. Guests must agree to house rules to book.
The pre-arrival message. Send the same list 24 to 48 hours before check-in. This is the version they actually read.
The printed house manual. If you keep a binder or a tablet on the kitchen counter, include a one-pager near the front. Guests who care will look for it.

Same wording, four places. The redundancy is the point. A guest who sees the disclosure four times will not feel surprised by anything when they walk in.

Common mistakes hosts make

Burying the disclosure in paragraph 14 of the house rules. If a guest needs to scroll past pet rules and trash schedules to find “outdoor camera,” the disclosure does not protect you.
Calling everything a “security system.” Vague language is what makes guests panic. Be boring and specific.
Forgetting the smart plug behind the lamp. If you ever activated it remotely while a guest was in the home, you owe them a disclosure. List it.
Leaving an old Echo Dot or indoor camera on the shelf. If you are not using it, remove it from the property. Do not unplug it and leave it sitting there. Guests notice.
Updating the devices but not the document. Every time you add or remove a device, edit the disclosure that day. Put a quarterly reminder on your calendar to walk the property and audit it — the Airbnb host privacy checklist covers what to look for.

Host checklist before publishing

Walk the property and write down every device you can see or that has a controlling app on your phone.
For each device, fill in the four columns: where, what it does, what it collects, what the guest controls.
Cross-check against your Airbnb safety devices section. Add anything missing.
Paste the same wording into house rules, the pre-arrival message, and the in-home manual.
Have a friend who has never stayed at your place read it. Anywhere they go “wait, what?” rewrite that line.

If you are picking which voice-assistant hardware (if any) belongs in a guest kitchen, our buying guide to the best Echo device for an Airbnb covers the trade-offs — an Echo Dot 5 is much easier to disclose and mute than an Echo Show with a camera.

FAQ

Do I have to disclose smart devices that do not record anything?

Strictly under Airbnb policy, no. Their disclosure rules cover audio, video, and decibel sensors. But practically, yes, you should list smart locks, thermostats, leak sensors, and smart plugs anyway. Guests assume anything “smart” is recording, and a 30-second list of harmless devices defuses that assumption faster than any explanation in chat. It also protects you if a guest later claims they did not know a device was on the property.

What about a noise sensor like Minut or NoiseAware in the living room?

Disclose it explicitly, by name and location, and explain that it measures decibel levels rather than recording audio. The current generation of Minut and NoiseAware devices processes sound on-device and only sends the host a number, not a recording. Guests usually accept this once they understand it, especially if you explain that it exists so neighbors do not call the city instead. If you cannot honestly say it never records audio, do not call it a noise sensor — call it what it is.

Can I put an indoor camera in common areas if I disclose it?

Airbnb banned all indoor cameras as of April 2024, regardless of disclosure, regardless of whether they were on. VRBO permits common-area cameras with disclosure but most other booking platforms have followed Airbnb’s lead. HomeScript Labs editorial policy goes further: skip indoor cameras entirely. The reputation cost on a single bad review outweighs anything an indoor camera would catch, and exterior cameras plus a noise sensor cover the realistic risks.

Where should the disclosure live in my house manual?

First or second page, with its own clear heading. Not buried under WiFi instructions. Guests skim, so put the device list where their eyes naturally land. If you use a digital guidebook, set the smart device section to the top of the navigation. The goal is that no one needs to ask “what is that thing?” about anything in the home.

How often should I update my smart home disclosure for guests?

Every time you add or remove a device, same day. Beyond that, do a full audit once a quarter. Walk every room, check every smart plug, look at the apps on your phone, and confirm the document still matches reality. Devices drift, batteries die, you swap a Wyze Cam for a Eufy unit and forget to update the wording. A 15-minute quarterly review keeps everything aligned.

Next steps

Take 20 minutes today to walk your property with a notebook and write down every smart device you find. Drop it into the template above, then paste it into all four places: listing, house rules, pre-arrival message, and in-home manual. Once you have the wording locked in, the same document carries you across every guest stay.