Where automated decisions went wrong

Xsolla fires 150 employees after big data analysis tags them as unproductive

Payment services company Xsolla terminated 150 employees at its Perm, Russia office after a big data analysis of their activity in Jira, Confluence, Gmail, chats, and documents tagged them as unengaged and unproductive. CEO Aleksandr Agapitov sent an email to affected employees stating that Xsolla was not for them, sparking backlash. The company later held a press conference, explaining the layoffs were due to slowing growth, and offered affected employees medical insurance and severance pay equal to four to six months' salary.

Company involved

Xsolla

4 source articles · read the reporting →

Amazon tracked every minute of JFK8 warehouse workers' shifts, documents show

Internal documents show Amazon's Time Off Task tool tracked every minute of JFK8 warehouse workers' shifts using handheld scanners and identified a 'top offender' per shift. Managers questioned those workers about each period of inactivity, including bathroom breaks, and issued warnings or fired them for 30 to 120 minutes of time off task. The article reports that 18 workers were terminated between January and February 2020, and workers said they skipped water and bathroom breaks for fear of discipline. Amazon did not respond to a request for comment.

Company involved

Amazon

AI system involved

Time Off Task Tool

3 source articles · read the reporting →

Kronos Algorithmic Scheduling Blamed for Erratic Work Hours for Retail Workers

Kronos workforce management software is used by major retail chains to algorithmically generate employee schedules. The software has been criticised for causing erratic and unpredictable work hours, leading to financial instability and emotional distress for low-wage workers. Following an investigation by the New York attorney general and negative press, Kronos announced new features aimed at improving schedule stability and worker control, though critics argue the changes are optional and lack enforcement mechanisms.

Company involved

Various retailers (e.g., Gap, Target, J.C. Penney, Starbucks)

AI system involved

Kronos scheduling software

9 source articles · read the reporting →

Deliveroo's rider-ranking algorithm ruled discriminatory by Italian court

An Italian court in Bologna ruled that Deliveroo's reputational-ranking algorithm discriminated against delivery riders. The algorithm failed to distinguish between legally protected reasons for not working, such as sickness or strike action, and other reasons. The court ordered Deliveroo to pay €50,000 to the applicants and publish the ruling. Deliveroo stated that the shift-reservation system linked to the algorithm is no longer in use and disagreed with the decision.

Company involved

Deliveroo

2 source articles · read the reporting →

Getty Images sues Stability AI for copyright infringement

Getty Images has commenced legal proceedings in the High Court of Justice in London against Stability AI. Getty Images alleges that Stability AI unlawfully copied and processed millions of copyrighted images and associated metadata without a license. Getty Images states it had provided licenses to other technology innovators for AI training, but Stability AI did not seek one. The legal action aims to address the alleged infringement of intellectual property rights.

Company involved

Stability AI

AI system involved

Stable Diffusion

5 source articles · read the reporting →

Suresnes allows startup XXII to use CCTV for experimental surveillance algorithms

The city of Suresnes has allowed startup XXII to use its public CCTV cameras for 18 months to develop algorithms for detecting suspicious behavior. The algorithms are experimental and may have high error rates. Residents were not informed or consulted. The startup will own the data and can use the city's surveillance center as a showroom for clients.

Company involved

Mairie de Suresnes

AI system involved

XXIISmartCity

10 source articles · read the reporting →

国内ベンチャー企業A社、AIなりすまし面談で実在エンジニアになりすまされる

A domestic Japanese logistics SaaS venture, referred to as Company A, conducted an online casual interview for an engineer role on 4 March 2026. An applicant used AI-generated video to impersonate a real engineer, Yoshii Kenbun, whose CV details had been submitted without his knowledge. The interviewer noticed discrepancies in language ability and unnatural video, and the company confirmed with Yoshii that he had not applied or attended. Company A and Yoshii publicised the incident on X the next day.

3 source articles · read the reporting →

Sama Facebook content moderators in Kenya allege exploitation, wrongful termination

Workers at Sama, a data-labelling company contracted by Facebook to moderate content in Africa, allege they were underpaid (as low as $1.50 per hour), forced to view traumatic material without adequate warning or support, and had their efforts to unionize suppressed. One worker, Daniel Motaung, says he was wrongfully terminated in 2019 after attempting to start a union. A legal NGO, Foxglove, says it is preparing legal action against Sama for wrongful termination. Sama denies any strike or labor action and says it provides competitive salaries and wellness support.

Company involved

Sama

AI system involved

Facebook

10 source articles · read the reporting →

Estée Lauder settles with make-up artists sacked by algorithm

Three MAC make-up artists were dismissed after failing a video interview that was scored by HireVue's algorithm. They appealed but received no clear explanation of how the system assessed them. Estée Lauder Companies settled the resulting legal challenge out of court. HireVue later discontinued the visual analysis component of its video interview platform.

Company involved

Estée Lauder Companies

AI system involved

HireVue

2 source articles · read the reporting →

Ibrahim Diallo fired by automated HR system, locked out for three weeks

Ibrahim Diallo, a software engineer in California, was automatically terminated by an HR system after a script triggered by a missed contract renewal revoked his access and disabled his key card. Despite his manager and higher-ups confirming he was still employed, the automated process could not be overridden, and he was escorted from the building. It took three weeks for the company to resolve the issue by rehiring him as a new employee, after which he quit. The incident highlights the risks of fully automated termination systems without human override.

10 source articles · read the reporting →

France: CNAF's discriminatory risk-scoring algorithm must be stopped

Amnesty International and coalition partners filed a complaint with the Council of State against CNAF's risk-scoring algorithm used to detect benefit overpayments. The algorithm assigns risk scores based on criteria that discriminate against vulnerable groups, including those with disabilities, single parents, and low-income households. The complaint alleges the system violates human rights to equality and privacy. The EU AI Act's social scoring ban may apply, but its definition remains unclear.

Company involved

CNAF

2 source articles · read the reporting →

AMS algorithm lacks transparency and may discriminate against job seekers

The Austrian Public Employment Service (AMS) uses an algorithm to classify job seekers into categories A, B, and C, determining their access to benefits and training. Scientists from TU Wien, WU Wien, and University of Vienna have criticised the algorithm for lacking transparency, as only two of 96 model variants have been published. They allege that the system may discriminate against women and people with migration background, and that job seekers are not informed about how the algorithm works or given a chance to appeal.

Company involved

AMS (Arbeitsmarktservice Österreich)

AI system involved

AMS-Algorithmus

10 source articles · read the reporting →

UberEats algorithm change causes pay cuts and financial hardship for car drivers

A survey by the Transport Workers' Union found that UberEats car drivers experienced a 50% pay cut after the company changed its delivery allocation algorithm to preference cyclists and scooter riders. Drivers reported bankruptcy, homelessness, and inability to support their families. The TWU has called for regulation of the gig economy and delivered a letter to the NSW shadow minister.

Company involved

UberEats

AI system involved

UberEats platform

10 source articles · read the reporting →

Shipt's new V2 algorithm reduces pay for 41% of workers, study finds

A study by MIT Media Lab and Coworker.org found that Shipt's new V2 payment algorithm reduced pay for 41% of workers by an average of 11% per shop. The algorithm, rolled out in September 2020, replaced a transparent payment system with a black-box model. Workers pooled data to analyze the impact, revealing uneven distribution of earnings.

Company involved

Shipt

AI system involved

V2

10 source articles · read the reporting →

Belgian political party sp.a created deep fake video of President Trump

In May 2018, the Belgian political party sp.a released a deep fake video appearing to show President Donald Trump telling Belgium to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. The video was created using lip-synching technology and was intended as a parody to promote the party's climate petition. The party confirmed the video was a deep fake and said it was legally sound.

Company involved

sp.a (Socialistische Partij Anders)

10 source articles · read the reporting →

Finnish recruitment company Digital Minds used AI to analyze job applicants' messages, prompting data protection investigation

Digital Minds, a Finnish recruitment company founded by psychologists, used IBM Watson AI to analyze job applicants' social media and email messages for personality assessments. The company obtained written consent but the Finnish Data Protection Ombudsman launched an investigation, suspecting violations of data protection laws and the secrecy of correspondence. The service was used on fewer than ten applicants and has been paused pending the investigation.

Company involved

Digital Minds

AI system involved

IBM Watson

9 source articles · read the reporting →

Teleperformance plans AI webcam surveillance for home-working staff

Teleperformance, a global call centre company, told some staff it would install AI-powered webcams to monitor home-working infractions such as eating, phone use, or leaving desks. The system would randomly scan for breaches and send alerts to managers. After the Guardian inquired, the company said the remote scans would not be used in the UK, but the plan raised concerns from unions and MPs about invasive surveillance.

Company involved

Teleperformance

10 source articles · read the reporting →

ViaQuatro's facial recognition system in São Paulo metro challenged in court

In April 2018, ViaQuatro installed the Digital Interactive Doors System, developed by AdMobilize, on the São Paulo metro's yellow line. The system used cameras to detect passengers' faces and claimed to infer their emotion, age, and gender in order to target advertisements. The Brazilian Institute of Consumer Protection (IDEC) filed a public civil action alleging that the system violated consumer and data protection laws by processing biometric data without consent and making pseudoscientific and discriminatory inferences. A judge ordered the cameras removed in August 2018, and the case is pending a final ruling.

Company involved

ViaQuatro

AI system involved

Digital Interactive Doors System (DID system)

10 source articles · read the reporting →

Italian privacy regulator fines Foodinho €2.6 million for algorithmic discrimination against riders

The Italian Data Protection Authority (Garante) fined Foodinho S.r.l., a subsidiary of GlovoApp23, €2.6 million for privacy violations related to its algorithmic management of food delivery riders. The Garante found that the company's digital platform used algorithms to assign orders and rate riders without adequate transparency, human oversight, or the right to contest decisions. The system allegedly penalized riders who did not accept orders quickly, leading to reduced work opportunities and exclusion from the platform. The Garante ordered Foodinho to implement corrective measures within 60 days and to overhaul the algorithms within 90 days.

Company involved

Foodinho S.r.l.

10 source articles · read the reporting →

Plastic Forte fined for using facial recognition on workers without notice

The Spanish data protection agency AEPD fined Plastic Forte, a plastics manufacturer in Alicante, €20,000 for using facial recognition to record employees' working hours without informing them. A worker requested information about his personal data and discovered the biometric processing. The company initially argued it was only for time tracking but later acknowledged responsibility, resulting in a reduced fine of €12,000. The AEPD deemed facial recognition for time control as highly intrusive and requiring prior impact assessment.

Company involved

Plastic Forte

7 source articles · read the reporting →

Company fires HR team after ATS auto-rejects manager's CV due to filtering error

A company's applicant tracking system (ATS) auto-rejected qualified candidates' resumes for three months because it was filtering for the outdated framework AngularJS instead of the required Angular framework. The manager discovered the flaw by submitting his own CV under a pseudonym and found it was rejected within seconds. After the manager reported the issue to upper management, the company investigated and dismissed half of its HR team. No legal action or regulatory involvement is reported.

4 source articles · read the reporting →

ScaleFactor reportedly failed to deliver promised automated bookkeeping software

ScaleFactor, an Austin-based startup, is reported to have failed to deliver the automated, real-time bookkeeping tools it promised customers, instead relying on human bookkeepers and a Filipino contract accounting firm. The company told Forbes in June that it was shutting down, initially blaming the pandemic, but Forbes later reported that its problems predated Covid-19. Investors reportedly came to see the company as more of a services business than a software platform, and pulled funding after a pivot to a marketplace model. No legal or regulatory action is reported.

Company involved

ScaleFactor

10 source articles · read the reporting →

Stable Diffusion amplifies racial and gender stereotypes in generated images

An analysis by Bloomberg of over 5,000 images generated by Stability AI's Stable Diffusion found that the text-to-image model amplifies racial and gender stereotypes. The model overrepresented lighter-skinned men in high-paying jobs and darker-skinned people in low-paying jobs, and underrepresented women in positions of power. Stability AI acknowledged the inherent biases in its models and stated it is working on mitigation.

Company involved

Stability AI

AI system involved

Stable Diffusion

8 source articles · read the reporting →

Spanish Supreme Court orders release of BOSCO algorithm code for social electricity bonus

The Spanish NGO Civio won a Supreme Court case forcing the government to release the source code of BOSCO, the algorithm that decides eligibility for the social electricity bonus (bono social eléctrico). Civio had demonstrated in 2019 that BOSCO contained serious errors that denied the benefit to vulnerable people who met the requirements. The government had refused to disclose the code, citing intellectual property. The Supreme Court ruled that transparency must prevail, setting a precedent for public access to automated decision-making systems.

Company involved

Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica (Gobierno de España)

AI system involved

BOSCO

10 source articles · read the reporting →