From the article, they mention that it was for improving facial recognition unlock. Could it be plausible that they're trying to test facial recognition in real world situations/lighting (e.g. outside in the park on a sunny day)? It also mentions that they were asked to look at notifications while it captured facial data. Could that be for attention recognition?

I mean, it still seems sketchy to me, but it does sound at least somewhat plausible. The article also mentions that the two instances took place in opposite sides of the country (NYC and Miami).

This is absolutely legitimate. I was approached by a Google Rep and completed the series of tests for the $5 gift card. Mostly out of curiosity to see what they’re up to.

It’s using what appeared to be a Pixel 3 with a heavy duty case wrapped around containing an additional camera and some sensors. I went through all of the poses one would do if they were training a model to perform similarly to FaceID. (Ok, now pull the phone out of your pocket and look directly at it. Look up at me then down at the phone, etc.)

This seems no different than the “Microsoft Employee” who calls you for your social security number to ensure your “Windows warranty doesn’t expire.”

I doubt Google would (or even have to) pay

Agreed. It's not Google.

None of it sounds like it would be.

Sound more like a cover story that some hackers/scammers would use.

An updated article includes Google confirmation they are running studies like this.

Does it honestly surprise you that much that Google is doing this? Have you been completely offline for the past 10 years?

The thing that is so frustrating to me about stories like this is that I don't know who to get angry at or complain about at parties. Google has become so massive it's clear that nobody is even aware of or in control of many of their activities, it's just a massive ball of opaque mud.