Google’s Controversial “Field Research” Has Been Aborted

Google is finally putting an end to the controversial “field research” program which rewarded subjects in US cities a $5 gift certificate for a scan of their face.

According to the New York Daily News report, one Google contracting agency was not playing fair, approaching homeless people in Atlanta and manipulating college students into scanning their faces for money.

Attorney Nina Hickson’s reaction was pretty strong and inspiring as, she emailed the company:

“The possibility that members of our most vulnerable populations are being exploited to advance your company’s commercial interest is profoundly alarming for numerous reasons,” she wrote, the Times reports.

Soon after this, the program was suspended and Google started an investigation, according to The New York Times. Also, the company confirmed it hired contractors from Randstad for the research.

Apparently, this project started with the company’s concern that Pixel 4 would face difficulty in recognizing a diverse array of faces.

Therefore, Google came up with this idea to avoid facing an issue like the smartphone not being able to detect people of color, for example.