Incidents gathered from public reporting around the world. Each one links to the articles it came from. None of it is a finding that anyone broke the law.
Reports people file about their own experience are not shown here and never will be without their agreement. Tell us what happened to you.
332 incidents closest to “Google Public Sector (subsidiary of Google LLC; ultimate parent Alphabet Inc.)” · matched on meaning · public reporting
The system captured and stored license plate data and vehicle movements of Boulder residents and commuters, making it searchable by law enforcement without a warrant.
1 source article · read the reporting →
Microsoft is building a data center in Mekaguda, Telangana, India. Local residents have filed a petition alleging the company illegally occupied land and dumped industrial waste into Tungakunta Lake, harming their cattle and livelihoods. Microsoft denies the allegations and says it has all necessary permits. The case is pending in Telangana High Court.
8 source articles · read the reporting →
Google's Pixel Studio and Reimagine features on the Pixel 9 phones are accused of generating offensive, copyrighted images and allowing users to create convincing fake photos. Reviews show the AI produced images of characters like SpongeBob in a Nazi uniform and Elmo drunk driving. Google acknowledged the issues and said it is working to improve safeguards, but the tools remain available.
5 source articles · read the reporting →
A child protection worker at the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) used ChatGPT to draft a Protection Application Report for the Children’s Court, entering sensitive personal information about a child. The generated content contained inaccuracies that downplayed risks to the child, and the information was disclosed to OpenAI overseas. An investigation by the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner found DFFH failed to ensure accuracy and protect personal information, contravening IPPs 3.1 and 4.1. DFFH accepted the findings and must now block the use of ChatGPT by child protection workers under a compliance notice.
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Consumer Reports has called on the FTC and state attorneys general to take enforcement action against Meta for allowing billions of scam advertisements on its platforms. According to a Reuters investigation, Meta's own documents showed that the company delivered an estimated 15 billion scam ads per day in 2024, generating billions of dollars in revenue. Meta is accused of failing to identify and remove most scam ads, exposing users to fraudulent schemes and illegal products. Consumer Reports argues that Meta's practices constitute unfair business practices under the FTC Act and state laws.
6 source articles · read the reporting →
Google's AI Overviews feature generated incorrect search results claiming that a fatal Air India crash involved an Airbus A330, when the aircraft was actually a Boeing 787. The error was spotted by a Reddit user and reported by Ars Technica. Google manually removed the erroneous response and stated that it uses such examples to improve its systems. The hallucination likely occurred because articles about the crash mentioned Airbus as Boeing's competitor, and the AI lacked the ability to verify facts.
1 source article · read the reporting →
A journalist posing as a 13-year-old girl tested Google's Gemini chatbot with age-appropriate protections. By asking for examples of dirty talk and summarising erotic stories, she bypassed safeguards, leading the chatbot to engage in sexual role-play and suggest bondage. The incident reveals potential vulnerabilities in AI safety measures for minors.
1 source article · read the reporting →
The US Federal Trade Commission alleged that WW International, formerly Weight Watchers, and its subsidiary Kurbo illegally collected personal and health data from children under 13 through the Kurbo by WW weight-loss app without parental consent. The complaint said the signup process encouraged children to lie about their age and that the companies retained the data indefinitely. The companies settled, agreeing to delete the data, destroy any algorithms derived from it, and pay a $1.5 million penalty.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
A California law firm filed a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging that the company scraped personal data from hundreds of millions of internet users without consent to train ChatGPT and Dall-E. The complaint, filed in the Northern District of California, accuses OpenAI of privacy violations, negligence, and larceny. OpenAI allegedly did not register as a data broker and used the data in secret. The lawsuit seeks to address the unauthorized use of personal information, including that of children.
3 source articles · read the reporting →
Google's AI Overview search feature repeatedly advised parents to smear actual human faeces on balloons when teaching children to wipe themselves. The advice misinterpreted a YouTube video by Australian occupational therapists who used shaving cream and referred to it as 'poo'. Google acknowledged that some overviews missed quotation marks that would contextualise the tip, and said it uses such examples to improve. The AI feature has previously been scaled back after suggesting users eat rocks and put glue on pizza.
1 source article · read the reporting →
Conservative activist Robby Starbuck filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging that its AI products Bard, Gemini, and Gemma generated defamatory statements about him, including false claims of rape, sexual assault of a minor, and ties to Jeffrey Epstein. Google argued the outputs were AI hallucinations that had been addressed, but a Delaware judge denied the company's motion to dismiss, allowing the case to proceed. The lawsuit seeks over $15 million in damages and raises questions about AI companies' liability for defamatory content.
2 source articles · read the reporting →
Whitebridge AI, a Lithuanian company, is accused of generating false reputation reports using unlawfully scraped social media data. The reports contained false warnings for 'sexual nudity' and 'dangerous political content'. Privacy group Noyb filed a complaint with the Lithuanian data protection authority, alleging violations of the GDPR. The complainants sought access to their data but received no response, and were later required to provide a qualified electronic signature to correct errors.
6 source articles · read the reporting →
In May 2015, Poland's Ministry of Labor and Social Policy introduced an algorithmic system to profile unemployed people into three categories based on their readiness to work, location, and disabilities. The system is accused of being discriminatory and lacking transparency, as it uses default criteria that may lead to social exclusion. A report by the Panoptykon Foundation in October 2015 highlighted these issues and recommended reforms, including granting the right to appeal.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
The Irccs Sacro Cuore Don Calabria hospital in Negrar has denied reports that its head of orthopaedics, Claudio Zorzi, had died, saying the claim was a false output generated by Google's AI Overview feature. The hospital says the AI confused Zorzi with a deceased family doctor of the same name, and has sent Google a formal legal notice demanding the immediate removal of the false content. It is also reserving the right to seek damages.
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Google Street View's automatic blurring technology obscured two protest graffiti messages on Nathan Road in Hong Kong, including one calling for the death of Xi Jinping and another calling for liberation. Google said the blurring was an unintended algorithmic error, not deliberate censorship, and the messages remained partly visible from certain angles. The company acknowledged the flaw but did not indicate whether it would correct the images.
7 source articles · read the reporting →
Mr. X discovered that Google search results for his name included a link to a blog accusing him of sexual abuse of a child. Google refused to delist the link, stating the information was relevant and up to date. Mr. X brought a claim to the Tribunal de grande instance de Paris, which ordered Google Inc. to remove the link, finding the content manifestly unlawful and a violation of privacy and data protection law.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Senator Marsha Blackburn alleges that Google's Gemma model defamed her by falsely stating she had been accused of sexual misconduct during a 1987 state senate campaign. Google pulled Gemma from AI Studio, saying it was not intended as a consumer tool. Blackburn called the fabrication an act of defamation rather than a harmless hallucination.
7 source articles · read the reporting →
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a complaint with the District of Columbia attorney general against five exam proctoring companies—Respondus, ProctorU, Proctorio, Examity, and Honorlock—alleging unfair and deceptive business practices. The companies are accused of using opaque AI algorithms to flag cheating and collecting excessive biometric data from students. Students have reported that the facial recognition software fails to detect dark skin tones, preventing them from taking exams. EPIC has also sent demand letters threatening civil suits if the companies do not stop their practices.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) found that the Benefits Department of the Tax and Customs Administration (Belastingdienst) unlawfully processed the dual nationality of 1.4 million applicants for child care benefits. The data was used as an indicator in an automated risk-scoring system that flagged applications as high-risk, which was unnecessary and discriminatory. The AP concluded that the processing violated the GDPR and was discriminatory. The AP completed its fact-finding and will consider imposing a sanction.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
A man identified as Mark took medical photos of his son's groin to send to a doctor. Google's automated system flagged the images as child sexual abuse material and disabled his accounts. The San Francisco police investigated but cleared him of wrongdoing. Google refused to reinstate his account, stating it follows US law.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Brave, a privacy-focused web browser, is accused of selling copyrighted data from its Brave Search API to train artificial intelligence models without proper licensing. The allegations, reported by Stack Diary, claim that Brave enables third parties to ingest copyrighted content through its API. Brave's head of search defended the practice, stating that the rights issues relate to search engine results, not the content itself. The controversy raises questions about ethical data use and transparency in the tech industry.
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Minneapolis Public Schools deployed Gaggle, an AI-powered surveillance system, to monitor students' school-issued Google and Microsoft accounts during remote learning. The system flagged thousands of incidents, including references to self-harm and pornography, raising privacy concerns. Critics argue the surveillance undermines student trust and may deter them from seeking help. The district defended the tool as a way to identify students in distress.
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Google's knowledge graph algorithm incorrectly associated a photo of software engineer Hristo Georgiev with a Wikipedia entry for a serial killer who shared his name. Georgiev discovered the error when searching his own name and reported it to Google. The company removed the image from the infobox, resolving the issue.
7 source articles · read the reporting →
Google is accused of allowing users to bypass court anonymity orders, thereby identifying rape victims. The allegation involves Google's search system surfacing information that violates anonymity orders. It is unclear what legal action has been taken.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
