Google is reportedly paying $5 to people to collect their face data

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Data privacy is possibly one of the most discussed topics in technology. It recently gained traction due to the resurgence of AI photo editing app, FaceApp. As much as people are aware and scared of big tech collecting user data, they are also pretty lax in giving it away. One such incident happened with Google collecting people’s facial data for just $5.

According to a ZDNet report, Google is going around in New York offering people to provide their facial data for a $5 Amazon or Starbucks gift card. This is happening around other US cities as well.

People from Google are walking around telling people that they’re “collecting data to improve the next generation of facial recognition phone unlocking.”

Those who agree are then given a phone from “a very large case”. All the person has to do is map their face using the selfie camera of the smartphone. This is similar to how one has to set their face for facial recognition on smartphones. In doing so, the phone scans and captures every angle of the face.

Google is quite straightforward with their data collection process. Artificial Intelligence systems are trained by feeding data to become smarter and carry out tasks. Google’s data collection process is most likely for its next generation Pixel 4 smartphone. Google’s Pixel series has so far relied on fingerprint recognition for biometrics. But the upcoming Pixel 4 is rumoured to offer facial recognition.

Google’s way of collecting facial data seems weird but the company puts up a request before doing so. It even has a terms and conditions regarding the facial data collected but unfortunately, details couldn’t be collected.