Privacy advocate detained at gunpoint after license plate reader error
Brian Hofer, a privacy advocate, and his brother were detained at gunpoint by Contra Costa County sheriff's deputies after a Vigilant Solutions automated license plate reader mistakenly flagged their rental car as stolen. The error occurred because the car had been recovered but not removed from the hot list database. Hofer filed a federal lawsuit alleging civil rights violations, while the sheriff's office stated deputies followed procedure. The incident highlights concerns about the accuracy and oversight of license plate reader systems.
- Company involved
- Contra Costa County Sheriff's Office
- AI system involved
- Vigilant Solutions license plate reader
2 source articles · read the reporting →
Prairie Village Police Stop Lawyer at Gunpoint After License Plate Reader Error
In April 2014, lawyer Mark Molner was driving his BMW in Prairie Village, Kansas, when police stopped him because a license plate reader misread a '7' as a '2', falsely identifying his car as a stolen Oldsmobile. An officer approached with his gun drawn but not pointed at Molner, who was shocked. The police later explained the error, and Molner did not pursue legal action.
- Company involved
- Prairie Village Police Department
- AI system involved
- Elsag PMH-900
2 source articles · read the reporting →
RCMP used IntelCenter facial recognition without disclosure
The RCMP in British Columbia secretly subscribed to IntelCenter's facial recognition service, which matched faces against a database of 700,000 faces tied to terrorism. Internal emails revealed the force broke its own procurement rules and hid the purchase. The RCMP claimed it was only for testing, but documents showed active use. The contracts ended in 2019.
- Company involved
- Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
- AI system involved
- IntelCenter Check
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Xpeng Motors Fined for Collecting Customer Facial Images Without Consent
Xpeng Motors was fined 100,000 yuan by Shanghai's market regulation authority for collecting 431,623 facial images of customers without consent. The company used surveillance cameras with facial recognition from a third-party supplier, Ulucu, to analyze customer traffic. Xpeng stated it removed the devices and deleted all data before the inspection, and that no data was leaked or misused.
- Company involved
- Xpeng Motors
4 source articles · read the reporting →
Truck drivers sue Motive over AI dash cam mass surveillance
Truck drivers Adam Dean and Christian Erickson filed a class action lawsuit against Motive Technologies Inc., alleging that the company's AI-powered dash cams with automatic license plate readers collected license plate data and tracked drivers' movements without consent. The lawsuit, filed in California federal court, claims violations of California's ALPR Law and seeks damages of $2,500 per class member. The drivers allege privacy invasion and emotional distress from the surreptitious surveillance.
- Company involved
- Motive Technologies Inc.
1 source article · read the reporting →
China police collect voice biometrics with iFlytek for mass surveillance
The Chinese government, collaborating with AI company iFlytek, has been collecting voice pattern samples to build a national voice biometric database. Police use an Automatic Speaker Recognition system to automatically identify targeted voices in phone conversations and alert authorities. Human Rights Watch reports that the collection occurs with little transparency, and individuals may not know their voice patterns have been taken or be able to challenge the surveillance. iFlytek has not responded to Human Rights Watch's inquiries about the program.
- Company involved
- Ministry of Public Security
- AI system involved
- Automatic Speaker Recognition (ASR) system
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 →
Report finds unregulated police face recognition affects 117 million Americans
A Georgetown Law report documents that law enforcement face recognition networks include over 117 million American adults, with at least 26 states allowing searches against driver's license and ID photo databases. The report alleges that these systems are largely unregulated, lack accuracy testing, disproportionately affect African Americans, and are not audited for misuse. It calls for legislative regulation and public reporting.
- Company involved
- Various law enforcement agencies
- AI system involved
- Face recognition technology
10 source articles · read the reporting →
U.S. Border Patrol uses AI and ALPR to target drivers for pretext stops and asset seizures
The U.S. Border Patrol has built a nationwide dragnet driver-surveillance system using automated license plate readers and AI to flag suspicious travel patterns. Local police then pull over targeted drivers on pretexts, interrogate them, and seize cash and vehicles through civil asset forfeiture. The program has been kept secret, with details hidden from court documents and the public. The ACLU report highlights the abuse of innocent drivers and calls for congressional action.
- Company involved
- U.S. Border Patrol (CBP)
- AI system involved
- Automated license plate reader (ALPR) system with AI analytics
6 source articles · read the reporting →
ShotSpotter held in contempt over refusal to release documents
ShotSpotter, a gunshot-detection technology company, was held in contempt of court after refusing to release documents about how it assesses gunshot alerts. The case stems from a November 2021 DUI arrest in Chicago, where the defence alleges the police pulled the driver over solely based on a ShotSpotter alert. Rather than comply with a subpoena from the Cook County Public Defender Office, ShotSpotter's attorney requested the contempt order to enable an appeal. The defence sought materials on analyst qualifications, alert reclassifications, and sensor accuracy data.
- Company involved
- ShotSpotter
- AI system involved
- ShotSpotter
1 source article · read the reporting →
Swedish police fined for unlawful use of Clearview AI facial recognition
Sweden's data protection authority IMY fined the Swedish Police Authority €250,000 for unlawfully using Clearview AI's facial-recognition app. The police used the app between autumn 2019 and March 2020 without authorisation or a required data protection impact assessment. The IMY ordered the police to ensure Clearview AI deletes the data and to train employees to avoid future breaches.
- Company involved
- Swedish Police Authority
- AI system involved
- Clearview AI
3 source articles · read the reporting →
Alonzo Sawyer falsely arrested after face recognition misidentification by Maryland Transit Police
Alonzo Sawyer was arrested in spring 2022 after an intelligence analyst using face recognition software identified him as a possible match for a bus assault suspect. He spent nine days in jail before the actual suspect was identified by the victim. His wife Carronne Sawyer advocated for his release and later testified in support of proposed Maryland legislation to regulate police use of face recognition. The incident is one of several known false arrests of Black men due to face recognition errors.
- Company involved
- Maryland Transit Administration Police
6 source articles · read the reporting →
Clearview AI tested facial recognition surveillance cameras with UFT and Rudin
Clearview AI, the facial recognition company that scraped billions of photos from social media, developed a surveillance camera system under the name Insight Camera. The system was tested by the United Federation of Teachers and Rudin Management in New York City. The UFT used it to identify individuals who had made threats and prevent them from entering its offices. Clearview did not respond to requests for comment.
- Company involved
- Clearview AI
- AI system involved
- Insight Camera
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Kohler, BMW, MaxMara secretly collected customers' facial recognition data
During the 2021 CCTV 3·15 Gala, it was revealed that Kohler, BMW, and MaxMara stores had installed facial recognition cameras from vendors such as Wandianzhang and Youluoke. These cameras captured customers' facial data without their knowledge or consent, and the data was used to track customer visits and inform sales strategies. The systems were deployed in thousands of stores across China, collecting over 100 million facial records. The companies did not inform customers or obtain consent, violating Chinese privacy laws.
- Company involved
- Kohler (China) Investment Co., Ltd., ZhengTong Auto (BMW dealerships), MaxMara
- AI system involved
- Facial recognition cameras from Wandianzhang, Youluoke, Yaliang, Ruiwei
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Judge rules police search using Flock was mass surveillance
A judge ruled that a police search using Flock's automated license plate readers constituted a form of mass surveillance. The ruling concerns the deployment of the AI-based camera system by law enforcement, which the court found to be an invasive surveillance practice. No further details of the case were provided in the article.
- AI system involved
- Flock
4 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 →
Clearview AI to pull out of Canada and stop working with RCMP amid privacy investigation
Clearview AI, the US facial recognition company, has agreed to stop offering its services in Canada amid a joint investigation by Canadian privacy regulators. The company's technology, which matches images against billions of photos scraped from the internet, was used by the RCMP and more than 20 other police services across Canada. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada announced the 'indefinite suspension' of Clearview's contract with the RCMP, its last remaining Canadian client. The investigation into whether the technology breaches Canadian privacy laws will continue.
- Company involved
- Clearview AI
- AI system involved
- Clearview AI
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Serbia's Ministry of Interior deploys thousands of Huawei facial recognition cameras in Belgrade
In early 2019, Serbia's Ministry of Interior announced the deployment of a thousand smart surveillance cameras with facial and license plate recognition capabilities, supplied by Huawei, across Belgrade. The Ministry refused to release information about the project, citing confidentiality, and failed to conduct a legally required Data Protection Impact Assessment. Citizens responded by crowdsourcing camera locations via the hashtag #hiljadekamera and a website. The system remains in operation with no public debate or transparency.
- Company involved
- Ministry of Interior
- AI system involved
- Huawei smart surveillance cameras
10 source articles · read the reporting →
EPIC lawsuit challenges USPS secret surveillance program using facial recognition
The United States Postal Service's law enforcement wing, the Postal Inspection Service, ran a secret surveillance program called the Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP) that used facial recognition from Clearview AI and social media monitoring tools to infiltrate online communities and monitor protests. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) sued the USPS for failing to conduct and publish a privacy impact assessment as required by the E-Government Act. A federal district court dismissed the lawsuit on standing grounds, ruling that EPIC did not suffer a cognizable injury from the agency's refusal to disclose information about the program.
- Company involved
- United States Postal Service
- AI system involved
- Internet Covert Operations Program (iCOP)
10 source articles · read the reporting →
FTC settles with IntelliVision over deceptive facial recognition claims
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action against IntelliVision Technologies Corp. for making false, misleading, or unsubstantiated claims about its AI-powered facial recognition software. The company allegedly claimed its software had one of the highest accuracy rates on the market and was free of gender or racial bias, without supporting evidence. The FTC also alleged that IntelliVision did not train its software on millions of faces as claimed, but on images of approximately 100,000 individuals. Under a proposed consent order, IntelliVision is prohibited from making such misrepresentations without competent and reliable testing.
- Company involved
- IntelliVision Technologies Corp.
- AI system involved
- IntelliVision facial recognition software
9 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 →
New Jersey court rules police must disclose facial recognition algorithms used to identify defendant
Francisco Arteaga was charged with armed robbery after a facial recognition search by the New York Police Department identified him as a possible match. The New Jersey police used this match to obtain witness identifications. Arteaga requested information about the facial recognition software, including its source code and error rate, but the trial court denied his request. The New Jersey appellate court ruled that the prosecution must disclose the algorithms, citing due process and the Brady rule.
- Company involved
- New Jersey Police
7 source articles · read the reporting →
St. Louis police arrest man after facial recognition match without corroboration
Christopher Gatlin was arrested and jailed for an assault on a security guard after police used facial recognition software to identify him from a blurry surveillance image. The lead detective built a case against Gatlin despite the city's policy that AI results are nonscientific and should not be the sole basis for a decision. A witness was steered by officers to select Gatlin from a photo lineup, and the case was later dismissed after more than two years. Gatlin alleges wrongful arrest and has filed a lawsuit.
- Company involved
- St. Louis County Police Department
- AI system involved
- Unnamed facial recognition program
4 source articles · read the reporting →
Met Police accessed PimEyes facial recognition site 2,000 times
The Metropolitan Police accessed the controversial facial recognition search engine PimEyes over 2,000 times from its computers in the first three months of 2024. The force stated that the hits did not necessarily mean searches were conducted, but after being alerted by i and Liberty Investigates, it blocked access to the site and strengthened safeguards. Privacy campaigners and MPs have raised concerns that the unregulated tool could be used for stalking and surveillance.
- Company involved
- Metropolitan Police Service
- AI system involved
- PimEyes
3 source articles · read the reporting →
