AirBnB is a website that allows homeowners to turn their extra living space into a hotel space for a night. It may seem like a simple way to set up a bed and breakfast in your guest room: hand your guest a set of house keys, make the bed with a fresh set of sheets and make sure a serving of breakfast is ready in the morning.

It may seem like a convenient way to make some extra money on the side, but it is most definitely not the safest.

AirBnB exposes your home to anyone who browses the website. When searching for an available room on the site, the homeowner provides a profile picture, a photograph of their property and a picture of the room available to use for the night.

Making these photos public will give any Internet user an opportunity to size up the owner of the home, see the location of the home (whether it is in a desolate part of town or near lots of neighbors) and get a preview of the kinds of belongings the homeowner keeps on the property.

It is an easy way to make your home a target for robbery. Any burglar interested in finding relatively vacant homes can simply browse AirBnB as if it were some sort of shopping catalog.

In addition, the homeowners provide written details of the property and space advertising whether there is a television on site, how quiet and isolated the house is and if there are any pets (a guard dog, for example).

AirBnB must be a dream come true for burglars.

The website’s profiles are only the beginning. Once a stranger books a room through AirBnB, they now can size up the homeowners in person, seek out the other rooms on the property and have a copy of the key to the home.

They even have the opportunity to seek out the homeowner’s security system: if there are security cameras, an active alarm system or if the neighborhood watch is on its game.

Unlike motels and hotels, most homeowners do not have a security guard patrolling the grounds or watching security cameras. Homeowners opening their guest rooms to the public are taking a huge risk in entrusting the privacy of their home to a complete stranger. AirBnB is not safe.

In addition, AirBnB does not screen its homeowners or users. In doing so, they are striving to “build the world’s most trusted community.” Although we can appreciate AirBnB’s confidence in a trustworthy society, it is a fantasy.

It is understandable to want to jump on an opportunity to cash out on an extra room, but homeowners should think twice before advertising their home on AirBnB. Making $100 over the weekend seems great, but privacy and safety should take precedence over an extra buck.