Well this seems a bit suspect. Google is collecting the eyelid shape and skin tone of children via parent submitted videos. And apparently, Canadian telco TELUS TELUS International is involved in this. Here’s the details:
Google is collecting the eyelid shape and skin tone of children via parent submitted videos, according to a project description online reviewed by 404 Media. Canadian tech conglomerate TELUS, which says it is working on Google’s behalf, is offering parents $50 to film their children wearing various props such as hats or sunglasses as part of the project, the description adds.
The project shows the methods some companies are using to build machine learning, artificial intelligence, or facial recognition datasets and products. Rather than scraping already existing images or analyzing previously collected material, TELUS, and by extension Google, is asking the public to contribute directly and get paid in return. Google told 404 Media the collection was part of the company’s efforts to verify users’ age.
“Eyelid shape. Skin tone. Video recording (without voice),” a section of the project terms and conditions listing the data collected reads. Another section says that TELUS’ customer—that is, Google—will collect “facial geometry.”
Let’s see what TELUS TELUS International and Google have to say about this:
TELUS writes that the purpose is to “capture a broad cross-section of participants targeting various combinations of demographics, with the goal of ensuring that our customer’s services, and derived products, are equally representative of a diverse set of end-users.” The description adds that the use case is to “help improve the authentication methods, thus offering more secure tools for the end users.”
Google told 404 Media in an email that TELUS was enlisted to find people to participate in the study, but TELUS itself did not receive any of the videos submitted. Rather, TELUS worked to identify eligible participants for Google.
A Google spokesperson said in a statement that “As part of our commitment to delivering age-appropriate experiences and to comply with laws and regulations around the world, we’re exploring ways to help our users verify their age. Last year, Telus helped us find volunteers for a project exploring whether this could be done via selfies. From there, Google collected videos and images of faces, clearly explaining how the content will be used and, as with all research involving minors, we required parental consent for participants under the age of 18. We’ve also put strict privacy protections in place, including limiting the amount of time the data will be retained and providing all participants the option to delete their data at any time.”
Google said improving user experience in this area also helps adults verify their age, and can assist with services that might be age-gated to children and teenagers. The company also said using outside vendors can help collect a diverse dataset and ultimately build more inclusive products.
Like I said, this seems a bit suspect. The fact that Google and TELUS TELUS International have teamed up to do this really rubs me the wrong way. Google’s involvement in this doesn’t surprise me in the least. But the fact that TELUS TELUS International is involved in this does as I always believed that TELUS TELUS International would never be involved in something like this. Add to that the fact that this whole project was aimed at kids who could not consent for themselves and it’s not a good look for either company.
UPDATE: In this story I wrote TELUS when it should have been TELUS International. TELUS is TELUS International’s parent company and they operate separately. That’s why the original mentions of TELUS have a strike through font like this. The story from 404 Media has not been corrected as that is the responsibility of 404 Media.
Make Sure You Update Chrome ASAP To Mitigate An Actively Exploited Vulnerability…. Along With Some Others
Posted in Commentary with tags Google on May 27, 2024 by itnerdIf you’re a Google Chrome user, you should make sure that you’re on 125.0.6422.112/.113 for Windows, Mac and 125.0.6422.112 for Linux. If you’re not, update ASAP as this update addresses a zero day vulnerability that is being actively exploited. Here’s what Google said:
This update includes 1 security fix. Below, we highlight fixes that were contributed by external researchers. Please see the Chrome Security Page for more information.
[N/A][341663589] High CVE-2024-5274: Type Confusion in V8. Reported by Clément Lecigne of Google’s Threat Analysis Group and Brendon Tiszka of Chrome Security on 2024-05-20
Google is aware that an exploit for CVE-2024-5274 exists in the wild.
Fun fact, this is the fourth zero day that Google has patched this month. Here are the other three:
So if you haven’t updated Chrome, consider this a today problem.
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