Google contractors targeted homeless people for Pixel 4 facial recognition data
Google hired Randstad to collect facial data to train the Pixel 4's face recognition system. Contractors allegedly targeted homeless people and unaware students, using deceptive tactics such as calling it a "selfie game" and offering $5 without informing subjects they were being recorded. Google suspended the research program and opened an investigation following the report.
- Company involved
- Google
- AI system involved
- Pixel 4 facial recognition
1 source article · read the reporting →
Adobe Firefly trained on thousands of Midjourney images, Bloomberg reports
Bloomberg has reported that Adobe's Firefly image generator was trained using thousands of images from competitor Midjourney. Adobe says these made up about 5% of the training data and were part of the Adobe Stock library. The company has marketed Firefly as ethically trained and offered enterprise customers indemnity against copyright claims. Adobe responded that all Adobe Stock images undergo moderation, but the report has raised questions about Firefly's copyright safety.
- Company involved
- Adobe
- AI system involved
- Firefly
7 source articles · read the reporting →
Meta Smart Glasses Lawsuit Claims Sex, Bathroom Footage Was Sent to Overseas AI Workers - Law Commentary
Recorded and transmitted private footage of users and bystanders to overseas AI workers
- Company involved
- Meta
- AI system involved
- Meta Smart Glasses
1 source article · read the reporting →
Clearview AI facial recognition app scrapes billions of images and is used by police
Clearview AI, a secretive start-up, built a facial recognition app that matches photos to a database of more than three billion images scraped from social media and websites. More than 600 law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, have used the tool to identify suspects in crimes such as shoplifting, identity theft and murder. The company monitored officers who ran a reporter's photo through the app, and its founder acknowledged designing an augmented-reality prototype but said there were no plans to release it. Critics warned the tool could end anonymity and enable misuse.
- Company involved
- Clearview AI
- AI system involved
- Clearview AI facial recognition app
2 source articles · read the reporting →
YouTube applies machine learning post-processing to Shorts without opt-out
YouTube announced an experiment on select Shorts using traditional machine learning to unblur, denoise, and improve clarity during processing. Creators reported that this altered their videos' appearance without an opt-out option, and some accused YouTube of misleading about the use of AI. YouTube acknowledged the experiment and said it would consider feedback, but did not offer a rollback or opt-out.
- Company involved
- YouTube
- AI system involved
- YouTube Shorts post-processing
7 source articles · read the reporting →
Xuhui police expand facial recognition surveillance to profile 1.1 million residents
The Xuhui District branch of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Public Security is expanding its Intelligent Image Recognition System, adding 2,500 facial recognition cameras and increased computing capacity to build profiles of residents and flag deviations. The project, contracted to US-sanctioned FiberHome, is designed to match each face to files on more than 50 million people. Officials say the system will analyse behaviour patterns and trigger early warnings.
- Company involved
- Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Public Security, Xuhui District Branch
- AI system involved
- Intelligent Image Recognition System
3 source articles · read the reporting →
Users jailbreak Luma Labs Dream Machine to generate porn
Users have jailbroken Luma Labs' Dream Machine, an AI video generator, to create explicit videos. The system's safeguards were bypassed to generate pornographic content. The videos are crude but demonstrate the potential for widespread AI-generated porn. Luma Labs' terms of service prohibit such content.
- Company involved
- Luma Labs
- AI system involved
- Dream Machine
3 source articles · read the reporting →
iRobot Roomba J7 captured intimate images later leaked by gig workers
In 2020, development versions of iRobot's Roomba J7 series robot vacuums captured images of a woman on the toilet and a child in a hallway. The images were sent to Scale AI for data annotation, where gig workers in Venezuela posted screenshots to private social media groups. iRobot acknowledged the images came from special development robots with recording stickers and said it is terminating its relationship with the service provider that leaked them. The incident highlights privacy risks in the data annotation supply chain for AI training.
- Company involved
- iRobot
- AI system involved
- Roomba J7 series
1 source article · read the reporting →
West Midlands Police test NDAS system to assess crime risk
West Midlands Police are testing a system called the National Data Analytics Solution (NDAS) that analyses police data to assess the risk of individuals committing a crime or becoming a victim. The Home Office has funded the project with millions of pounds, intending to roll it out across England and Wales. Critics warn that the system could reinforce bias against minorities and undermine the presumption of innocence. The police say the technology is designed to support, not replace, officer decision-making and that it is still in early testing.
- Company involved
- West Midlands Police
- AI system involved
- National Data Analytics Solution
1 source article · read the reporting →
Brainwash cafe customers unknowingly put in AI surveillance dataset
In 2014, customers at the Brainwash Cafe in San Francisco were recorded by a publicly available webcam. The images were compiled into a dataset containing 11,917 photos for training surveillance-related object and head detection algorithms. The dataset was later removed from access following an investigation revealing use by researchers affiliated with the National University of Defense Technology in China. The dataset's creators are accused of collecting the images without the cafe customers' knowledge or consent.
- Company involved
- Stanford University
- AI system involved
- Brainwash dataset
1 source article · read the reporting →
NewsBreak AI generates false news stories, harms local charities
NewsBreak, the most downloaded US news app, used AI to generate news stories, including a fabricated shooting in Bridgeton, New Jersey. The AI-produced content also contained errors that caused charities to turn away people needing services. Former employees and a consultant raised concerns about the practice, and the company has faced multiple copyright lawsuits. NewsBreak maintains it removes inaccurate content and complies with US laws.
- Company involved
- NewsBreak
- AI system involved
- NewsBreak app
2 source articles · read the reporting →
Dahua Exposed for Uyghur Tracking Software in Surveillance Systems
Dahua Technology's publicly available SDK was found to contain code for detecting Uyghur ethnicity, enabling Chinese police to covertly track the persecuted minority. The revelation led to widespread criticism, and Dahua removed the SDK after being contacted by IPVM but did not comment. The company had previously been sanctioned by the US for complicity in human rights abuses against Uyghurs, and its software is part of a massive surveillance apparatus in Xinjiang.
- Company involved
- Dahua Technology
- AI system involved
- Dahua SDK
1 source article · read the reporting →
Las Vegas police used unsuitable facial recognition images in nearly half of searches
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) used 'non-suitable' probe images in 451 of 924 facial recognition searches in 2019, greatly increasing the risk of false identifications. The system, supplied by Vigilant Solutions, returned likely matches in only 18% of those searches, yet led to arrests in at least 73 cases. Critics and researchers warn this practice heightens the chance of wrongful arrests, and one defence attorney said he was never informed facial recognition was used to identify his client.
- Company involved
- Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department
- AI system involved
- Vigilant Solutions facial recognition system
1 source article · read the reporting →
DeepNude app creator takes software offline after backlash
The creator of DeepNude, an app that used machine learning to generate nude images of women from clothed photos, took the software offline after viral backlash. The app, which used generative adversarial networks trained on thousands of nude images, was criticized for objectifying women and enabling non-consensual image manipulation. The creator announced the app's death on Twitter, stating they did not want to make money this way and that the world was not ready for it.
- Company involved
- DeepNude
- AI system involved
- DeepNude
10 source articles · read the reporting →
YouTube's AI captions insert explicit language in children's videos
YouTube's automated captioning system has been found to insert explicit language into videos intended for children. A study of over 7,000 videos from top kids' channels found that 40% contained taboo words in captions, with 1% including highly inappropriate terms like 'bitch' and 'rape'. The AI mishears words such as 'brave' as 'rape' and 'corn' as 'porn'. YouTube acknowledged the issue and said it is working to improve the system.
- Company involved
- YouTube
- AI system involved
- YouTube automated captions
7 source articles · read the reporting →
Delhi Government uses facial recognition on children in government schools
The Delhi Government's Education Department is using facial recognition technology in conjunction with CCTV cameras in government schools, according to responses to RTI requests filed by the Internet Freedom Foundation. The organisation urged the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights to intervene, alleging that the practice violates children's right to privacy and education under the Indian Constitution. No specific incident of harm has been reported, but the organisation warns of potential misidentification and disproportionate penalties.
- Company involved
- Government of NCT of Delhi, Education Department
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Sentence tossed after man killed in 2021 "speaks" in AI video shown in Arizona court - CBS News
The AI-generated video of the victim was presented to the judge, potentially influencing the 10-year manslaughter sentence imposed on Gabriel Paul Horcasitas.
1 source article · read the reporting →
Ring's AI pet-search feature draws privacy backlash after Super Bowl ad
Ring, an Amazon company, promoted its Search Party feature in a Super Bowl advertisement, saying its AI helps reunite dog owners with missing pets. Critics said the feature, which is enabled by default, turns Ring doorbells into a mass surveillance network and could easily be adapted to track people. Ring said it had reunited 99 dogs in the US in 90 days and that customers keep full control of their data.
- Company involved
- Ring
- AI system involved
- Search Party
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Hackers Extract Encryption Keys from Flock Surveillance Cameras, Revealing Person Detection Alongside Vehicle Tracking - finance.biggo.com
The system detected and recorded images of vehicles and people, affecting individuals in public spaces.
- Company involved
- Flock Safety
- AI system involved
- Flock Safety ALPR cameras
1 source article · read the reporting →
Flock seeks to have security researchers' map of Flock cameras taken down — unauthenticated flaw exposed 335,701 camera locations nationwide…
The system captured license plate data and vehicle locations of individuals passing the cameras.
- Company involved
- Flock Safety
- AI system involved
- Flock Safety cameras
1 source article · read the reporting →
Fort Myers man falsely arrested; lawsuit says AI program is to blame - WINK News
Police falsely arrested an innocent man due to a facial recognition misidentification
- Company involved
- Jacksonville Beach Police Department
- AI system involved
- FACESNXT
1 source article · read the reporting →
Hallucination-laced TRO raises alarm bells on AI use by courts - Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly
A generative AI tool drafted a temporary restraining order in Jackson Federation of Teachers v. Fitch containing fabricated parties, declarations, and statutory language, affecting the state of Mississippi and the plaintiffs.
- Company involved
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
1 source article · read the reporting →
Mr Craig Hadley wrongly accused of fraud at Sports Direct shop using Facewatch facial recognition.
Mr Craig Hadley was wrongly accused of being a fraudster at a Rotherham Sports Direct shop using facial recognition technology supplied by Facewatch. The system flagged him as a known fraudster, but the alert was later attributed to human error. Big Brother Watch, a privacy campaign group, has raised concerns about the lack of due process in such systems.
- Company involved
- Sports Direct
- AI system involved
- Facewatch
2 source articles · read the reporting →
Evolv backtracks on claimed UK government testing of AI weapons scanner
Evolv Technology, maker of AI-powered weapons scanners, backtracked on claims that its system had been tested by the UK government's National Protective Security Authority. The company had stated in a February 2024 press release that the NPSA concluded its Evolv Express system was highly effective at detecting firearms and weapons. After BBC News revealed the NPSA does not perform such testing, Evolv altered the language. The company is under investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Trade Commission over its marketing practices. Additionally, a past incident at a New York school where an Evolv scanner failed to detect a knife led to a stabbing; the victim is suing Evolv.
- Company involved
- Evolv Technology
- AI system involved
- Evolv Express
3 source articles · read the reporting →
