The record

Where automated decisions went wrong

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.

Clear

92 incidents closest to “Cúram Social Program Management” · matched on meaning · public reporting

Hospitals use Epic AI to predict Covid-19 decline without validation

Dozens of hospitals across the US are using Epic's deterioration index AI system to predict which Covid-19 patients will become critically ill, despite the tool not being validated for the new disease. The rapid deployment during the pandemic bypassed normal testing and validation processes.

AI system involved
Deterioration index

9 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-QSFASR1 Jan 2019

Denmark's Udbetaling Danmark welfare algorithm illegally surveilled millions

Udbetaling Danmark (UDK), Denmark's centralized welfare payment agency, used automated algorithms to check eligibility and detect fraud. The system collected personal data on millions of beneficiaries and their relatives, including non-beneficiaries, in what a think-tank called 'systematic surveillance'. A complaint to the Danish Data Protection Authority led to a ruling that the data collection violated GDPR, and UDK eventually deleted the illegally obtained data. The system also caused erroneous payments, including underpaying 300,000 pensioners by 94 million euros annually.

Company involved
Udbetaling Danmark

10 source articles · read the reporting →

Campaigners call for end to Home Office's IPIC 'robo-caseworker' AI tool

Migrants' rights campaigners have called for the UK government to stop using the IPIC (Identify & Prioritise Immigration Cases) AI system, which automatically identifies and recommends migrants for immigration decisions or enforcement action. Privacy International and the Migrants' Rights Network have raised concerns that the system could lead to racial bias and the 'rubberstamping' of algorithmic recommendations by caseworkers. The campaigners argue that people going through the immigration system may not know their information has been processed by an algorithm. The Home Office has not directly responded to the specific concerns, though Science Secretary Peter Kyle has defended the safe development of AI in public services.

Company involved
Home Office
AI system involved
IPIC (Identify & Prioritise Immigration Cases)

9 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-BSSRTA30 Apr 2019

Danish law enables algorithm to profile unemployed for long-term risk

The Danish parliament passed a law in April 2019 that allows an algorithm to analyse personal data of all unemployed individuals to identify those at risk of long-term unemployment. The system uses data on ethnicity, age, health, and education history to produce a risk score for social workers. Critics, including legal experts and unemployment insurance funds, argue the profiling is stigmatising, lacks transparency, and may violate GDPR. The Danish Data Protection Authority has reopened its review of the law.

Company involved
Danish Ministry of Employment

10 source articles · read the reporting →

UnitedHealthcare sued for using AI to deny Medicare Advantage patients care

A class action complaint alleges that UnitedHealthcare and its subsidiary naviHealth deployed an artificial intelligence model to override treating physicians' determinations of medically necessary care for elderly Medicare Advantage patients. The complaint claims the AI model has a known 90% error rate and wrongfully denied patients care. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, seeks damages on behalf of the estates of two deceased patients and all others similarly situated.

Company involved
UnitedHealthcare, Inc.

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-S574X31 Jan 2019

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 →

WF-R2SNAZ1 Jan 2013

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 →

LINAGORA closes Lucie 7B after user mockery

LINAGORA, a French open-source software company, launched a beta version of its large language model Lucie 7B. The model was intended to be a transparent and ethical alternative to big tech AI. However, after users tested it and highlighted its shortcomings, the model was mocked online. LINAGORA subsequently closed the platform to address the issues and collect more data.

Company involved
LINAGORA
AI system involved
Lucie 7B

6 source articles · read the reporting →

Perth hospital group bans ChatGPT after doctor used it for a patient discharge summary

South Metropolitan Health Service, which runs five hospitals in Perth, ordered staff to stop using ChatGPT for work involving patient information after an email said some staff had used the AI chatbot to write medical notes. The service later clarified that only one doctor had used the tool to generate a patient discharge summary and that no confidential patient information had been breached. The Australian Medical Association has called for national regulations to ensure a human is involved in AI-assisted health decisions.

Company involved
South Metropolitan Health Service
AI system involved
ChatGPT

6 source articles · read the reporting →

IRCC uses AI triage for Temporary Resident Visa applications

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) uses an AI system called Advanced Analytics to triage Temporary Resident Visa applications from India and China. The system categorizes applications into tiers, with Tier 1 approved automatically and others sent to human officers. Critics allege the system lacks transparency and may introduce bias, leading to visa refusals without clear rationale. The author, a Canadian immigration lawyer, is filing Federal Court cases on behalf of clients affected by refusals.

Company involved
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)
AI system involved
Advanced Analytics Triage of Overseas Temporary Resident Visa Applications

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-88TTTL5 Apr 2018

Immigration NZ uses data model to predict likely troublemakers among overstayers

Immigration New Zealand has been piloting a data modelling system that uses demographic information such as age, gender, and ethnicity of overstayers to predict which individuals are likely to commit crime or incur hospital debts. The system then targets those individuals for accelerated deportation. Critics, including immigration lawyers and a lobby group, have likened the programme to 'Minority Report' and allege it amounts to racial profiling. Immigration Minister Iain Lees-Galloway only learned of the programme on the day of the article and said he would seek a full briefing, but maintained it is not racial profiling and does not breach the Human Rights Act.

Company involved
Immigration New Zealand

10 source articles · read the reporting →

Humana sued for using AI to deny seniors rehabilitation care

Health insurer Humana is accused in a class-action lawsuit of using an AI algorithm to systematically deny rehabilitation care to Medicare Advantage patients, despite recommendations from their doctors. The lawsuit, filed on December 12, 2023, alleges that the AI tool restricted medically necessary care. This is the second major health insurer to face legal action over its use of AI to deny care.

Company involved
Humana

9 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-LN1XAB1 Jan 2021

California EDD's automated fraud detection wrongly suspended 600,000 legitimate unemployment claims

In January 2021, the California Employment Development Department used Thompson Reuters automated batch review software to flag 1.1 million unemployment claims as potentially fraudulent. EDD stopped payments on those claims without prior notice. Later, over 600,000 were confirmed as legitimate after claimants used ID.me to verify their identity. The incident highlights the trade-off between fraud prevention and timely benefit access.

Company involved
California Employment Development Department (EDD)
AI system involved
Thompson Reuters Automated Batch Review

7 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-MQA6MW1 Mar 2022

Haryana government's algorithm wrongly declares thousands dead, stops pensions

The Haryana state government's Family Identity Data Repository (PPP) algorithm wrongly declared thousands of elderly and widowed citizens as dead, stopping their pensions. Dhuli Chand, a 102-year-old man, had to stage a mock wedding procession to prove he was alive after his pension was cut for six months. The government acknowledged the errors and corrected some records, but many still face difficulties.

Company involved
Haryana state government
AI system involved
Family Identity Data Repository (Parivar Pehchan Patra or PPP)

6 source articles · read the reporting →

Serco Leisure issued enforcement notices for unlawful biometric monitoring of employees

Serco Leisure and associated trusts used facial recognition and fingerprint scanning to monitor employee attendance at 38 leisure facilities. The ICO found they unlawfully processed biometric data of over 2,000 employees. Enforcement notices were issued ordering them to stop.

Company involved
Serco Leisure Operating Limited

8 source articles · read the reporting →

Teething problems in Mater Dei's medicine robots addressed

The Malta Union for Midwives and Nurses claimed that a €23 million investment in two computerised drug administration robots, Mario and Sophia, at Mater Dei Hospital had resulted in a complete failure. However, sources within the Health Ministry said that most teething problems have been addressed and that the supplier has not been paid yet. They reported that out of over 1,700 medication rounds, only four required a contingency plan.

Company involved
Mater Dei Hospital
AI system involved
Mario and Sophia

6 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-YDH39P1 Jan 2013

Swedish welfare agency's AI system flags marginalized groups for fraud investigations

Försäkringskassan, Sweden's Social Insurance Agency, uses an AI risk-scoring system to flag welfare applicants for fraud investigations. The system disproportionately targets women, individuals with foreign backgrounds, low-income earners, and those without university degrees, according to an investigation by Lighthouse Reports and Svenska Dagbladet. Amnesty International has called for the system to be discontinued, citing violations of the right to equality and non-discrimination.

Company involved
Försäkringskassan (Swedish Social Insurance Agency)

6 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-VERNY015 May 2025

AEMPS withdraws AI medicines tool MeQA after detecting errors

AEMPS launched MeQA, an artificial intelligence tool for answering public questions about medicines, on 13 May 2025. Two days later it withdrew the tool after detecting that some responses contained errors. The agency said that most answers were correct but that the errors could affect patient safety, and that it would restore the service as soon as possible.

Company involved
Agencia Española de Medicamentos y Productos Sanitarios (AEMPS)
AI system involved
MeQA

4 source articles · read the reporting →

DWP algorithm mistakenly flags 200,000 Housing Benefit claimants for fraud review

The UK Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) uses an algorithm to flag Housing Benefit claimants for possible fraud or error. According to a Big Brother Watch investigation, the algorithm has mistakenly flagged 200,000 innocent people, subjecting them to intrusive reviews. Only one in three flagged cases actually had errors, compared to two in three during the pilot. The DWP has spent £4.4 million on these pointless checks.

Company involved
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

6 source articles · read the reporting →

Irish DPC takes Twitter to court over using user data to train Grok AI

The Irish Data Protection Commission has initiated High Court proceedings against Twitter International Unlimited Company over concerns that the company is processing personal data of millions of European X users to train its Grok AI system without adequate consent. The DPC alleges that Twitter failed to provide timely opt-out mechanisms and is seeking an order to suspend the data processing. Twitter denies any wrongdoing.

Company involved
Twitter International Unlimited Company
AI system involved
Grok

10 source articles · read the reporting →

DWP algorithm approved Kickstart gateways with no trading history or based abroad

An FE Week investigation found that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) approved dozens of companies as Kickstart gateways through automated due diligence checks using the Cabinet Office Spotlight Tool, although some had little or no trading history or were based abroad. The DWP said gateways were subject to stringent checks and later said human checks were also used. After the findings were shared with the Treasury and the DWP, the department stopped taking gateway applications and scrapped the requirement for small employers to use gateways from 3 February.

Company involved
Department for Work and Pensions
AI system involved
Cabinet Office Spotlight Tool

3 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-JRPF9K30 Jul 2024

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Field Service AI singles out workers in performance predictions

A report by Cracked Labs found that Microsoft's Dynamics 365 Field Service software uses AI to generate performance metrics and predict task durations, singling out individual workers. The AI predictions can be influenced by the worker's identity, such as increasing or decreasing estimated duration. Microsoft stated the system is not intended for employment decisions and is not a surveillance tool, but the report raises concerns about potential misuse for worker monitoring.

Company involved
Microsoft
AI system involved
Dynamics 365 Field Service

6 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-1UJHJB1 Jan 2019

Tennessee's TennCare Connect algorithm illegally denied thousands Medicaid benefits

A U.S. District Court judge ruled that Tennessee's TennCare Connect system, built by Deloitte for over $400 million, illegally denied thousands of low-income residents and people with disabilities Medicaid and disability benefits due to programming and data errors. The system automatically terminated coverage without properly considering eligibility for all available programs. A class action lawsuit filed in 2020 resulted in the ruling.

Company involved
TennCare (Tennessee Medicaid)
AI system involved
TennCare Connect

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-15KEYQ1 Apr 2023

Deloitte software glitches wrongly remove Texans from Medicaid

Advocacy groups filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission alleging that Deloitte's eligibility software, TIERS, used by Texas Medicaid, wrongly disenrolled qualified recipients due to glitches. Nearly 1.8 million Texans lost coverage after the pandemic pause ended, with many errors attributed to procedural issues but some linked to system malfunctions. Deloitte denies the claims, while the state says it restored care for at least 90,000 people. The FTC has not yet responded to the complaint.

Company involved
Texas Health and Human Services Commission
AI system involved
TIERS

6 source articles · read the reporting →

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