Google Tests Facial Recognition Technology For Campus Security

According to CNBC, Google is testing facial recognition technology for office security “to help prevent unauthorized individuals from gaining access to its campuses.” The news platform notes that the first test is being conducted at one of Alphabet’s locations in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, Washington. To help identify whether there are illegal individuals on the property, inside security cameras have started gathering face recognition data and comparing it to photographs recorded from employee badge images, which includes the expanded workforce.

The information gathered will be used by Google’s Security and Resilience Services (GSRS) team to help identify individuals “who may pose a security risk to Google’s people, products, or locations. To ensure the safety and security of our people and spaces, protocols are in place for identifying, reporting, and potentially removing known unauthorized persons,” it states.

Visitors approaching the Kirkland testing site won’t be able to choose not to have their faces screened. The data is “strictly for immediate use and not stored,” according to the document shared by Google. Employees can choose not to have their ID photos saved by completing a form. Although ID badge photographs were a component of the test, Google stated that they would not be utilized moving forward. An email from a Google representative stated, “For many years, our security team has been testing and implementing new systems and protections to help keep our people and spaces as safe as possible.”

At least one significant violent event has occurred at Google in the past. Three people were hurt when a woman opened fire at the YouTube office in San Bruno, California, in 2018. According to reports, the gunman chose YouTube as her target because she “hated” the platform for removing her videos. For Google, which is at the epicentre of the AI boom and is quickly integrating AI into its array of goods and services, the Kirkland test comes at an important moment. The privacy issues around surveillance make facial recognition technology especially contentious.

Google announced plans to implement additional security measures in 2021, including fencing around a portion of its Mountain View, California, headquarters, given that the company had planned to build public and retail areas. More recently, following a wave of layoffs and protests over the previous year, corporate leaders have denied access to staff, citing security concerns. The corporation revealed intentions to cut roughly 12,000 positions, or 6% of its workforce, at the beginning of 2023 in reaction to a slowdown in the online ad industry and a wider slump in the economy. Recently, Google has increased its layoffs, shifting some engineering positions to Mexico and India.

After a string of protests over Project Nimbus, Google’s cloud and AI contract with the Israeli government and military, and labour conditions at the firm, Google fired more than 50 employees in a high-profile incident in April. Workers at Sunnyvale and New York offices conducted a sit-in protest.

According to CNBC, Chris Rackow, Google’s vice president of global security, informed employees during an all-hands meeting last month that “extensive use of all of our video camera footage” assisted in identifying workers who the company claimed were disruptive during the protests and who made their coworkers feel threatened and unsafe.

Legislators were interested in facial recognition technology in 2020 as a result of national demonstrations and pressure from civil rights activists over George Floyd’s death. Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM placed limitations on the sale of their products to law enforcement agencies.

The following year, after the business installed cameras with artificial intelligence in delivery vans, lawmakers from the United States questioned Amazon on its use of employee surveillance. Warehouse employees sued Amazon in April, claiming the online retailer had improperly obtained facial scan data and other biometric information. In addition, the Federal Trade Commission suggested late last year that Rite Aid be prohibited from utilizing facial recognition software in its pharmacies for five years to resolve claims that the company had inappropriately utilized the technology to identify shoplifters.

For Google, maintaining security is an expensive undertaking that extends beyond its campuses to the highest levels of the organization. The company paid $6.8 million in 2023 for CEO Sundar Pichai‘s security, up from $5.9 million in the previous year, based on regulatory filings.