Google rater fired after speaking to Ars about work conditions

Enlarge / The bad guys will try to get you with their glowing keyboards and headsets, at least in the classic movie Hackers. (credit: Hackers / United Artists)

Last week we reported on the lives of Google raters, people whose job is to provide Google with data on the usefulness of its algorithms. The 10 anonymous raters we spoke with were all contractors at Leapforce, a staffing firm that provided rater services to Google. Yesterday, one of those raters, Kyle Martin Medeiros, was fired by Leapforce for an unspecified "breach of contract." Every Leapforce rater signs a contract that includes a broad NDA.

After the firing, one of Medeiros' colleagues, who goes by the pseudonym Shelly323, bragged in Leapforce chat rooms about her role in getting Medeiros fired. She said she had turned Medeiros over to Leapforce managers after he confessed to her privately on Facebook that he was speaking with Ars.

"I was the one that told LF what was happening," she wrote in Leapforce chat. "All along I leaked the info to them... He was screwing with ALL OF OUR JOBS!!! I did what I HAD TO DO TO PROTECT LF and ALL OF THE RATERS!!" Other raters congratulated her for being a "double agent" and offered to buy her cake. Leapforce did not respond to a request for comment.

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