The practice of surveilling and kicking tenants out of vacation homes is technically illegal, said Otago University public law lecturer Marcelo Rodriguez Ferrere in an interview with VICE. "In the case of shorter term rentals, the Privacy Act 1993 has a really broad scope and covers landlords and people offering accommodation — Airbnb hosts, for example," Ferrere said. "So that's where your summer house scenario might come in. When identifiable information is recorded, there are certain obligations on part of the person who collects it. I mean it would be pretty horrifying and unethical for there to be secret recordings in hotel rooms, right?" Surveillance of this nature could become criminal under the Crimes Act 1961, Ferrere added, especially with "recordings of an intimate nature, where there's a reasonable expectation to be provided with privacy." 
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