Google has introduced facial recognition technology at its campus in Kirkland, Washington, using the data as a security measure to prevent unauthorized access.
According to an internal document seen by CNBC, Google says the new technology is “to help prevent unauthorized individuals from gaining access to our campuses.”
The document says that Google’s Security and Resilience Services team will use the facial recognition technology to identify people who “pose a security risk to Google’s people, products, or locations,” preventing those individuals from entering the campus.
In an email to CNBC, a Google spokesperson said: “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.”
Some employees at Google aren’t concerned by the system, and see it as a useful defense against out-of-the-ordinary events where employees could be at risk.
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One worker, who is located outside of the Kirkland campus, told Business Insider they believe the facial recognition technology could be useful at larger offices like Kirkland where “some crazy” situations have occurred.
At Google’s YouTube office in San Bruno, California in 2018, a shooter injured three people after gaining entry to the site and opening fire. The woman was reported to have “hated” the company after her videos on the platform did not perform well.
"I personally don't have too much of an issue with it and maybe even welcome it assuming it works well," the employee added.
Not all employees approve of the technology, however. One worker told Business Insider the facial recognition system as “a little dystopian,” and that others in the Kirkland office share data privacy concerns.
"A lot are concerned about facial data being stored by Google," the stated. "Data is extremely valuable."
Employees at Kirkland cannot opt-out from the technology and will have their faces scanned upon entry.
However, the internal document states that the image data collected by the system is “strictly for immediate use and not stored.” A Google spokesperson confirmed this detail to Business Insider.
Earlier in the testing process, facial data was compared against images from employees’ ID badges, which workers could opt out of—but the spokesperson said the company is no longer using the ID badge images.
Another employee who often goes to Google’s Kirkland campus noted that they only learned about the facial recognition system after news coverage about the technology broke online.
A New York-based Googler said they do not have privacy concerns about the system were it to be rolled out beyond Kirkland, arguing that the offices already have extensive security surveillance.
Indeed, CNBC reported that after a sit-in protest against the company’s $1.2billion Project Nimbus contract with the Israeli Government, Google’s VP of Global Security, Chris Rackow, told staff that surveillance footage helped identify some of the 50 protestors who were eventually fired or placed on leave.
One worker suggested that the facial recognition technology could be used for tracking in-office attendance by employees, adding they have been spoken to previously for not attending the office frequently enough.
The Google spokesperson, however, told Business Insider that the company has no known plans to use its facial recognition technology for monitoring in-person attendance.
According to a 2023 Pew Research Center Study, more Americans favor (45%) than oppose (35%) the use of facial recognition technology to automatically track the attendance of employees.
A 2020 Security Industry Association report also found that 70% of Americans would be comfortable with their employer using facial recognition technology to improve security at their workplace.