Shulou(Shulou.com)06/03 Report--

Machine Heart report

Participation: Li Zenan, Li Ya

At a time when facial recognition is controversial and increasingly restricted by regulations, how does Google find data? Recently, people were surprised by the results of a survey released by the New York Daily News: Google's paid face-scanning program includes many homeless people, while some college students unknowingly provided their facial features to Google.

On the other hand, the terms of the agreement to provide paid face data are also harsh, and once agreed, Google will be able to use your photos and face recognition data freely for five years or more.

In July, Google acknowledged its employees' plans to look for facial data in several US cities: to upgrade the facial unlocking system of the next-generation mobile phone Pixel 4, Google offered a $5 gift card to everyone who was willing to sell facial data. But the New York Daily News reports that the technology company is using suspicious methods for facial scans.

According to several sources working on the project, a contracting company called Randstad does target homeless and black people in Atlanta, usually without saying that they are working for Google or that they are actually recording people's facial messages.

Google did not necessarily know that Randsrad was targeting homeless people, but a Google manager did reportedly instruct the team to target darker skin, a source told the Daily News.

In an interview, Google project staff admitted that they were using dubious and misleading methods because of Google's pursuit of data. These include sending teams to collect facial data of homeless people, looking for unsuspecting students on American university campuses, and even going to the scene of the BET Awards (American Black Entertainment Television Awards).

Of course, the revelations also contain a lot of information. As the former staff said: "they face the homeless because they are least likely to say anything to the media." The tramp has no idea what happened. "

They said they were told to treat this collection of facial data as a "selfie game" for Snapchat. One person said that staff members were told what to say, such as "you can get a gift card in a few minutes" and "We have a new app that we can try and get $5." "

The staff, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that if people saw the prompt on the screen after the task was completed, and then asked, "is the machine shooting a video?" "We'll be asked to say," No, it's not really filmed. "

Another former TVC member said the California team was specifically told that they could pass a state law to entice cash-strapped targets. The law stipulates that gift cards worth less than $10 can be exchanged for cash.

The report also includes photos of devices suspected of capturing facial data, a mobile phone mounted in a large metal rack sealed with testing stickers and safety screws.

People unwittingly involved in Google's facial recognition project

A Google spokesman acknowledged the purpose of data collection: "We conduct volunteer studies on a regular basis and collect data for machine learning training." Google's research focuses on two main goals: to maximize the fairness of the Pixel 4 facial recognition unlocking function among users of different races, and to improve the security of facial unlocking on this basis.

In the agreement signed by the volunteers, Google retained the right to use face data for up to five years, which may even be extended as the project continues. In addition, it gives Google the right to aggregate and share research data without any restrictions on purpose. This may mean that the use of data is not limited to Google's individual business, and it will not be limited to the United States.

Note that Google has good reason to ensure that its new facial unlocking feature is widely tested for people of color: it cannot be biased because of a lack of data. Before that, the media reported that Apple collected facial recognition data before the launch of the FaceID for the same reason.

However, it seems that Google and its contractors may have taken some extreme and unwise shortcuts. Google and Randstad failed to respond to reporters' inquiries on the matter.

Behind the collection of face recognition data is the tightening of face recognition regulations in the United States. In May, officials from the San Francisco City Supervisory Board (Board of Supervisors) passed a law by a vote of 8 to 1 banning government agencies from buying and using face recognition technology. The move aims to strengthen the regulation of new technologies and eliminate the hidden dangers of personal privacy disclosure. As a result, San Francisco became the first city in the world to ban face recognition.

Subsequently, a similar law banning face recognition was passed in a number of cities in the United States.

Although the regulations are getting stricter, it is clear that the needs of technology companies for technological development will not change. How to collect data reasonably and develop facial recognition technology has become a difficult problem for all companies.

Reference content:

Https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/2/20896181/google-contractor-reportedly-targeted-homeless-people-for-pixel-4-facial-recognitionhttps://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-google-darker-skin-tones-facial-recognition-pixel-20191002-5vxpgowknffnvbmy5eg7epsf34-story.html

Https://www.toutiao.com/i6743942051118711308/

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