ESPN Erin Andrews Peephole Video Case Shows Holes in Hotel Security

espn-erin-andrews-peephole-video-case-shows-holes-in-hotel-security The hotel industry is reexamining guest privacy safeguards in light of the case of an ESPN reporter who was videotaped nude through the peephole of her hotel room door, allegedly by a man who reserved an adjacent room.

“This is a wakeup call for the hotel industry,” said Peter Greenberg, author of “Hotel Secrets from the Travel Detective” and CBS travel editor.

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Court papers say Michael D. Barrett requested and received a hotel room adjacent to ESPN reporter Erin Andrews at the Nashville Marriott at Vanderbilt University. Barrett then allegedly jimmied the peephole of Andrews’ hotel door, shot the videos and uploaded them to the Internet.

Until now, requests for adjacent rooms have been handled inconsistently throughout the hotel industry. If you ask for a room next to another guest, some hotels will call the other guest for consent, but many will simply go ahead and book it without confirming with the other party.

“There is no consistent policy within individual brands or across the industry,” said John Burns, president of Hospitality Technology Consulting in Scottsdale, Ariz. “It is in the hotel industry’s cultural DNA to attempt to satisfy guests’ ‘adjacent room’ or ‘connecting room’ requests.”

ESPN Erin Andrews Peephole Video Case Shows Holes in Hotel Security

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