Google to restrict ads for tracking tech, spyware

Bloomberg

Alphabet Inc.’s Google is changing its policies next month to restrict advertising for spyware and other unauthorized tracking technology.
The change “will prohibit the promotion of products or services that are marketed or targeted with the express purpose of tracking or monitoring another person or their activities without their authorisation,” according to the company.
While ads for these products already violate Google’s Enabling Dishonest Behaviour policy, the change will make ban on tracking technology explicit and lead to increased enforcement, a company spokeswoman said.
The policy will prohibit advertisements of spyware and malware “that can be used to monitor texts, phone calls, or browsing history,” according to Google. It will also ban ads for “GPS trackers specifically marketed to spy or track someone without their consent” and of cameras or recorders “marketed with express purpose of spying.” The new policy will be implemented globally on August 11, and accounts of advertisers that violate it will be suspended,
according to Google.

Google Campus Security Singled Out Black
Google’s campus security system subjected Black and Latinx workers to bias and prompted complaints to management, according to people familiar with the situation, leading the company to scrap a key part of the approach.
The internet giant encouraged employees to check colleagues’ ID badges on campus, and asked security staff to do same. This went beyond the typical corporate office system where workers swipe badges to enter. The policy was designed to prevent unauthorised visitors and keep Google’s open work areas safe.
But some staffers told management that Black and Latinx workers had their badges checked more often than other employees, according to the people, who experienced this themselves or saw friends and colleagues go through it.

As a result, these employees felt policed on campus in a similar way that they are under suspicion elsewhere in life, said the people, who weren’t authorized to speak publicly about the issue. It’s an example of the unconscious, or overlooked, biases that make working in Silicon Valley harder for minorities, the people added.