Airbnb

Airbnb overhauled its logo, its website, and its mobile app this morning. But there’s something deeper going on with the sharing economy’s most popular travel site.

Under the covers, Airbnb has quietly begun an ambitious effort to painstakingly mine the treasure trove of data contained in the site’s customer reviews and host descriptions to create a smarter way of traveling. It turns outs Airbnb is more than a travel website—it’s a stealth big data company.

Addressing his company’s legal battle with New York over its users’ data, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky said on Tuesday that maybe the current laws shouldn’t apply to the hosts who use its site to rent out rooms and apartments.

The travel-and-accommodations site is embroiled in a dispute with New York state regulators over a subpoena for information on thousands of “hosts” in the city. The case stems from claims that some hosts have violated a 2010 law that places limits on New York City residents’ ability to rent out their rooms and apartments.

 Airbnb, which helps people find vacation rentals all around the world, today will start verifying the identity of all users by asking for their real-life papers, the company announced on Tuesday.

Airbnb is asking both travelers and those who have property listings to provide two forms of identification for a new verification process. The company will take people's IDs from Airbnb reviews and social media sites, like LinkedIn or Facebook, and will ask users to fill in information only they would know or scan a photo ID to confirm a match.