Crisis Text Line shares data with for-profit spinoff Loris.ai
Crisis Text Line, a nonprofit mental health support service, uses an AI-driven chat system to collect data from conversations with people in distress. The organization shares anonymized data with its for-profit spinoff, Loris.ai, which uses it to develop customer service software. Critics raise ethical concerns about privacy and consent, though Crisis Text Line asserts the data is stripped of identifying details.
- Company involved
- Crisis Text Line
- AI system involved
- Crisis Text Line's AI-driven chat service
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Prisons use Verus software to scan inmate calls for coronavirus keywords
Jail and prison officials in at least three states deployed Verus, a software by LEO Technologies, to scan inmate phone calls for keywords related to COVID-19. The system transcribes and analyzes calls, flagging mentions of symptoms or the virus. Advocacy groups argue the surveillance is an abuse of privacy and could lead to retaliation against inmates raising concerns about conditions. The software is funded by Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy and has been deployed in Georgia, Alabama, and California.
- Company involved
- Multiple correctional facilities in Georgia, Alabama, and California
- AI system involved
- Verus
10 source articles · read the reporting →
UK Court of Appeal Finds South Wales Police's Automated Facial Recognition Unlawful
The UK Court of Appeal ruled that South Wales Police's use of Automated Facial Recognition (AFR) technology, known as AFR Locate, was unlawful and violated human rights. The court found that the legal framework gave officers too much discretion over watchlists and deployment, and the data protection impact assessment was inadequate. Civil liberties campaigner Ed Bridges brought the judicial review, alleging the technology was unlawfully intrusive. The court upheld the appeal on grounds of legality, data protection, and equality duties, and South Wales Police stated it would not appeal the decision.
- Company involved
- South Wales Police
- AI system involved
- AFR Locate
8 source articles · read the reporting →
Durham Police uses Experian Mosaic data in HART AI risk tool
Durham Constabulary developed the Harm Assessment Risk Tool (HART), a machine learning algorithm that assesses the recidivism risk of offenders. The tool uses 34 data categories including criminal history, age, gender and two types of postcode, one sourced from Experian's Mosaic marketing segmentation system. Big Brother Watch alleges that using such commercial consumer behaviour data to inform custody decisions risks prejudice and disproportionate targeting of deprived neighbourhoods. The force has stated it is refreshing the model with an aim to remove one of the postcode predictors.
- Company involved
- Durham Constabulary
- AI system involved
- Harm Assessment Risk Tool (HART)
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Perplexity sued by Dow Jones for alleged copyright infringement
Perplexity, an AI search engine, was sued by Dow Jones, the publisher of the Wall Street Journal and New York Post, on October 21, 2024. The lawsuit alleges that Perplexity's AI reproduces copyrighted articles without permission. Perplexity denies the allegations and states it responded to outreach from News Corp before the lawsuit was filed.
- Company involved
- Perplexity
- AI system involved
- Perplexity
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Hong Kong tycoon sues Tyndaris over AI hedge fund losses
Hong Kong tycoon Samathur Li Kin-kan is suing Tyndaris Investments after its AI-powered hedge fund, K1, lost over $20 million in a single day. Li alleges that the system was not as sophisticated as claimed. The trial is set to begin in London in April 2020.
- Company involved
- Tyndaris Investments
- AI system involved
- K1
10 source articles · read the reporting →
SenseNets silent after data leak exposes millions of people's records
SenseNets Technology Ltd., a Shenzhen-based facial recognition company, left a database containing personal information of more than 2.5 million people publicly accessible without password protection for months. Dutch security researcher Victor Gevers and the GDI Foundation discovered the exposure in July and warned the company, which did not respond. The database was secured in February after the leak was reported, and the company is reported to be conducting an internal investigation. SenseNets has declined to comment publicly.
- Company involved
- SenseNets Technology Ltd.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
ACLU test finds Rekognition falsely matches 27 New England athletes to mugshots
The ACLU of Massachusetts conducted a test using Amazon's Rekognition facial recognition technology, comparing headshots of 188 New England professional athletes to a database of 20,000 arrest photos. The software falsely matched 27 athletes, including Patriots safety Duron Harmon. The ACLU is calling for a moratorium on government use of face surveillance technology.
- Company involved
- ACLU of Massachusetts
- AI system involved
- Rekognition
8 source articles · read the reporting →
Newham Council fined £145,000 over leaked gang matrix data
Newham Council was fined £145,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office after a leaked unredacted gangs matrix, containing details of 203 suspected gang members, ended up in the hands of rival gang members via Snapchat. The leak occurred in January 2017 when a council employee emailed both redacted and unredacted versions to 44 recipients. The ICO found the breach was unnecessary and that the council failed to report it promptly. The council apologised and accepted the breach was not deliberate.
- Company involved
- Newham Council
- AI system involved
- Gangs matrix
8 source articles · read the reporting →
Cense exposed 2.5 million records of auto accident victims online
On July 7, 2020, a security researcher discovered 2.5 million records containing personal and medical data of auto accident victims exposed online. The records, belonging to New York-based AI company Cense, included names, insurance policy numbers, claim numbers, and medical diagnosis notes. The data was labeled as staging data, possibly intended for temporary storage before being loaded into an AI system. After the researcher sent a responsible disclosure notice, Cense restricted public access to the database.
- Company involved
- Cense
- AI system involved
- Cense
5 source articles · read the reporting →
Dutch government continued SyRI welfare fraud profiling after ban
The Dutch government deployed the SyRI algorithm to profile welfare recipients in low-income neighborhoods, despite a 2020 court ruling that the system violated EU human rights. The algorithm flagged thousands of parents for fraud based on illegal risk factors such as dual nationality, leading to false accusations, bankruptcy, and trauma. The government has announced an external review of the practices.
- Company involved
- Ministry of Social Affairs of the Netherlands
- AI system involved
- SyRI
10 source articles · read the reporting →
UK councils use Covid OneView AI to harvest personal data for risk scoring
UK local authorities are using a system called Covid OneView, developed by data analytics firm Xantura, to harvest millions of personal details from council records. The system uses predictive analytics and AI to assign risk scores to households and individuals, aiming to identify those vulnerable to Covid or likely to break lockdown rules. Privacy campaigners and MPs have criticised the lack of transparency and the extent of data collection, which includes sensitive information such as debt levels, living arrangements, and even notes on unfaithful sex. Xantura and Barking and Dagenham Council have defended the system as compliant with data protection rules and focused on providing support.
- Company involved
- UK local authorities
- AI system involved
- Covid OneView
6 source articles · read the reporting →
Momus Analytics' jury-selection algorithm criticised for racial bias
Momus Analytics, a legal technology company, uses machine learning to rank potential jurors for attorneys. Experts and researchers who reviewed the company's patent application say the algorithm relies on demographic characteristics such as race, which may violate constitutional prohibitions against discriminatory jury selection. The company claims its software has helped secure verdicts worth over $940 million, but did not respond to requests for comment.
- Company involved
- Momus Analytics
- AI system involved
- Momus
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Study finds Italian car insurers charge more based on birthplace
A study by the Universities of Padua, Udine and Carnegie Mellon found that Italian car insurers, including Genertel, Mps, Quixa and Con.Te, use birthplace and citizenship in pricing algorithms, charging some drivers over €1,000 more. The practice was ruled against in a 2018 decree involving Linear, but the study says it continues. The companies contacted denied or explained the findings.
- Company involved
- Genertel, Mps, Quixa, Con.Te
8 source articles · read the reporting →
CanLII sues Caseway AI for scraping legal database
The Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII) has filed a lawsuit in British Columbia Supreme Court against Caseway AI, alleging that the company's AI chatbot scraped approximately 3.5 million records from CanLII's database in bulk, violating its terms of service and copyright. CanLII claims it adds value to public court records through hyperlinks and corrections, which it says constitute protected copyrighted work. Caseway AI argues the information is public and accessible elsewhere, and that it did not use CanLII's enhancements. The lawsuit was settled in March 2026, with terms undisclosed.
- Company involved
- Canadian Legal Information Institute (CanLII)
- AI system involved
- Caseway
5 source articles · read the reporting →
DeepScore markets facial and voice analysis app for trustworthiness scoring despite experts' doubts
DeepScore, a Tokyo-based company, is marketing an app that uses facial and voice recognition to score people's trustworthiness for lenders and insurers in Japan, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The company says the app can detect deception with 70 per cent accuracy, but researchers and privacy advocates say there is no reliable scientific basis for such judgments and warn of discrimination and privacy harms. The chief executive said the system is only one part of lenders' and insurers' decision-making and that people can choose not to use it. Critics respond that an unequal balance of power makes consent difficult.
- Company involved
- DeepScore
- AI system involved
- DeepScore
6 source articles · read the reporting →
Wisconsin court used secret COMPAS algorithm to sentence Loomis to harsher term
In Loomis v. Wisconsin, a judge used a COMPAS risk score from Northpointe to sentence a defendant to a harsher punishment. The algorithm was kept secret as a trade secret, preventing the defendant from challenging its accuracy. The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the sentence, ruling that the score was only one part of the rationale. The case raises concerns about due process and the use of secret algorithms in criminal sentencing.
- Company involved
- State of Wisconsin
- AI system involved
- COMPAS
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Michael L. Ruiz v. Magellan Financial & Insurance Services (2) (D. Arizona): AI-hallucinated content in court filing, Formal public reprimand
AI-hallucinated fake quotations were included in court filings submitted by counsel Elizabeth Tate, misleading the court.
1 source article · read the reporting →
Lemonade backtracks on tweet claiming AI scans customer faces for fraud
Lemonade, an insurance firm, posted a tweet claiming it uses AI to detect non-verbal cues in customer videos to deny claims. After backlash comparing the practice to phrenology, the company deleted the tweet and denied using AI to deny claims based on facial characteristics. Lemonade stated it uses facial recognition only to flag claims submitted under different identities, which are then reviewed by human investigators.
- Company involved
- Lemonade
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Thomas Raynard James v. Detective Kevin Conley, et al. (S.D. Florida): AI-hallucinated content in court filing, Bar Referral
AI generated hallucinated content in a court filing, affecting the legal process and the lawyers who filed it.
1 source article · read the reporting →
Joann LeDoux v. Outliers, Inc. (2) (W.D. Washington): AI-hallucinated content in court filing, Expert Brief excluded/struck
The AI-generated hallucinated citations in an expert report led to the exclusion of the expert and dismissal of the plaintiff's case.
1 source article · read the reporting →
Intellexa Predator spyware used to surveil human rights lawyer in Pakistan
In summer 2025, a human rights lawyer from Pakistan's Balochistan province was targeted via WhatsApp with Intellexa's Predator spyware, according to Amnesty International's Security Lab. The attack is part of a broader pattern of unlawful surveillance of activists, journalists and human rights defenders. The Intellexa Leaks investigation exposed internal operations of the spyware company, raising concerns about human rights due diligence.
- AI system involved
- Predator spyware
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Met Police buys £3m retrospective facial recognition system
The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) has awarded a £3 million, four-year contract to Northgate Public Services for a new retrospective facial-recognition (RFR) system to be deployed within three months. RFR processes biometric information from historic CCTV, social media, and other images to identify suspects and missing persons, operating retroactively unlike live facial recognition. The procurement was approved by the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime in August 2021. The MPS states that human-in-the-loop decision-making will be used, but digital rights groups and a former biometrics commissioner have raised concerns about potential discrimination, overrepresentation of marginalised groups in watch lists, and lack of a legislative framework.
- Company involved
- Metropolitan Police Service
- AI system involved
- Retrospective facial-recognition software
9 source articles · read the reporting →
UnitedHealth used ALERT algorithm to limit mental health coverage, regulators found
ProPublica reports that UnitedHealth Group's Optum subsidiary used the ALERT algorithm to flag mental health patients and therapists as outliers, leading to therapy coverage denials. Regulators in California, Massachusetts and New York alleged this breached the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, and UnitedHealth agreed to restrict the system in those jurisdictions. The company denies wrongdoing and says its programmes are compliant. Affected patients, including Medicaid enrollees, were left to pay out-of-pocket or go without care.
- Company involved
- UnitedHealth Group
- AI system involved
- ALERT
5 source articles · read the reporting →
