IBM stops facial recognition work, employees seek fewer open workplaces, cosmetics brands drop talc, and more

Also: Google Maps offers alerts for mass transit users, Google Meet’s new noise-canceling features, how consumers feel about brand messages on racial justice, and other topics.

Good morning, communicators:

Google is offering notices on its Maps app to help users avoid crowding and maintain social distance.

Apart from showing checkpoints and testing locations, the app will show how crowded public transit might be in a certain area. Public transit use is a key concern for many organizations’ leaders as they try to chart a way back to the office for their employees.

Google Maps could be an essential resource for helping your employees find safe ways to return to work in the coming months.

Image courtesy of Android Police.

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The tech company’s CEO, Arvind Krishna, wrote a letter to Congress stating that the organization would no longer help in developing facial recognition technology. Instead, IBM wants to help solve problems stemming from racial injustice and structural inequality.

Krishna wrote:

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