Cybersecurity @sh.itjust.works Kid @sh.itjust.works 4mo ago

Google's reCAPTCHAv2 is just labor exploitation, boffins say

www.theregister.com Google's reCAPTCHAv2 is just labor exploitation, boffins say

Web puzzles don't protect against bots, but humans have spent 819 million unpaid hours solving them

Informatica (Italy e non Italy 😁) @feddit.it qwe @feddit.it 4mo ago

Google's reCAPTCHA v2 just labor exploitation, boffins say - theregister

www.theregister.com /2024/07/24/googles_recaptchav2_labor/

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Technology @lemmy.world ForgottenFlux @lemmy.world 4mo ago

Forget security – Google's reCAPTCHA v2 is exploiting users for profit | Web puzzles don't protect against bots, but humans have spent 819 million unpaid hours solving them

www.theregister.com /2024/07/24/googles_recaptchav2_labor/

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10 comments

And the first one was what?! We began training their OCR then we trained the image recognition. With Google Rewards we were training their location recognition. It has always been free labor. At least with Google Rewards I’d earn money that I could spend in apps.
Boffins?
- (Derogatory) English slang for clever people, researchers, scientists. The Register isn't exactly the most reputable of publications.
  
  If you see the word "boffin" in your article, you're probably reading The Register.
  
  Neat, thanks for explaining!
- And it would have worked, if not for those meddling boffins!
- Neutral mob with low HP. Won’t attack unless provoked. Not a threat except in large numbers.
The utility of reCAPTCHA challenges appears to be significantly diminished in an era when AI models can answer CAPTCHA questions almost as well as humans.

Maybe - but using an AI isn't exactly free. Depending on how many captchas you're solving this could be a significant cost.

10 comments