Google’s private buses will have private security guards

Google has hired security guards to look out for the safety of its employees who ride buses from their homes in San Francisco’s Mission District to company headquarters in Mountain View, 35 miles away. Two men “dressed casually in jeans and wearing black ski hats” wearing tell-tale coily-corded earpieces and taking notes were spotted two days in a row standing near workers waiting for the shuttle bus, reports Reuters.

First, San Francisco-based commuters to Google Inc got buses with plush seats and free WiFi. Now, they are getting security. In recent days, men with earpieces have closely monitored passengers boarding Google commuter buses at the site of at least one bus stop in San Francisco’s Mission District. Their presence comes a few weeks after Google buses were targeted by protesters who blame tech-industry employees for rising city rents.