Where automated decisions went wrong

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

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Canon uses AI smile recognition cameras to control office access

Canon Information Technology deployed AI cameras at its Beijing headquarters that only allow smiling employees to enter the office or book conference rooms. The system uses smile recognition to enforce a positive atmosphere. Some workers have complained about the intrusiveness of the technology. Canon defended the system, saying it encourages a positive work environment.

Company involved

Canon Information Technology (Canon China)

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X's Grok chatbot wrongly confirms AI-generated war video as real

During the US-Israel war with Iran, X's Grok chatbot was used by users to verify the authenticity of AI-generated videos. In many cases, Grok wrongly insisted that the AI-generated videos were real, misleading users. The article reports that X will suspend creators from monetisation if they post AI-generated conflict videos without a label.

Company involved

X

AI system involved

Grok

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CBSA tested facial recognition on millions at Toronto Pearson Airport in 2016

In 2016, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) secretly tested facial recognition technology on millions of travellers at Toronto Pearson Airport without their knowledge. The system, supplied by Face4 Systems, matched faces against a database of previously deported individuals. The CBSA stated that no one was deported as a result of the pilot, and the technology was removed after six months. Privacy advocates raised concerns about lack of consent, transparency, and potential racial bias.

Company involved

Canada Border Services Agency

AI system involved

Faces on the Move

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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

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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

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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

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Face recognition bypass used to register shell companies for tax fraud in Shanghai

In a major tax fraud case in Shanghai, criminals used face recognition cracking techniques to register shell companies on government platforms. They purchased high-resolution photos and used apps to create fake videos, then used modified phones to bypass face recognition authentication. The scheme resulted in fraudulent invoices totaling over 500 million yuan. The case was prosecuted by the Shanghai procuratorate.

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Deep-Live-Cam enables real-time face swapping, raising fraud concerns

A software package called Deep-Live-Cam has gone viral for enabling real-time face swapping on webcams using a single photo. The tool, which is free and open source, allows anyone to impersonate another person's appearance in a video chat, raising concerns about remote deception and fraud. The article notes that similar technology has been used in a $25 million heist in Hong Kong and in audio deepfake scams.

AI system involved

Deep-Live-Cam

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Dahua facial recognition technology can sort by race and alert police when detecting Uighurs

Dahua Technologies, a Chinese surveillance camera company, developed facial recognition software that can classify individuals by race and send real-time warnings to police when it identifies Uighur people. Documents and code revealed the capability, though it is unclear if it has been deployed. Human rights advocates and Uighur individuals have expressed concern about potential surveillance and discrimination. The company did not respond to requests for comment.

Company involved

Dahua Technologies

AI system involved

Dahua facial recognition software

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Five Illinois residents sue facial recognition company Pimeyes under BIPA

Five Illinois residents are suing Pimeyes, a facial recognition search engine, alleging that the company violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act by collecting and using their facial data without consent. The lawsuit claims that Pimeyes made the residents' photos and information available in search results, enabling unauthorized access. The company has not yet been served with the lawsuit, and its CEO stated he had no prior knowledge of the case.

Company involved

Pimeyes

AI system involved

Pimeyes

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Former James City County police officer charged with misusing Flock cameras: JCCPD - wtkr.com

The officer used the Flock camera system to access location data of coworkers without authorization.

Company involved

Flock Safety

AI system involved

Flock Safety camera

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N-Tech.lab's FindFace used to identify St Petersburg metro passengers without consent

Egor Tsvetkov photographed passengers on the St Petersburg metro without their permission and used N-Tech.lab's facial recognition service FindFace to match their faces to public Vkontakte profiles. He published the results in an art project called 'Your Face is Big Data', saying he wanted to show how 'digital narcissism' can lead to stalking. Privacy advocates said the project was ethically problematic because the subjects had not consented and their identities were exposed. FindFace had been launched by N-Tech.lab in February 2016.

Company involved

N-Tech.lab

AI system involved

FindFace

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Wacom responds to concerns about AI-generated images in marketing assets

Wacom acknowledged that it may have used AI-generated images in US marketing assets for the New Year. The company stated it purchased the images from a third-party vendor who indicated they were not AI-generated, and that it vetted them using online tools that also indicated they were not AI-generated. After community feedback raised doubts, Wacom discontinued the images and is reviewing its processes to prevent recurrence. The company attributed the incident to misleading vendor information and detection tool limitations.

Company involved

Wacom

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Duke University recorded students' faces without proper consent for public dataset

In March 2014, Duke University researchers recorded thousands of students walking to class on campus without their knowledge or proper consent, creating the DukeMTMC dataset of over 2 million image frames. The dataset was placed on a public website and downloaded by academics, security contractors, and military researchers globally, including Chinese companies and military academies linked to surveillance of ethnic minorities. The university took down the public website in April 2019 after an Institutional Review Board investigation found the study deviated significantly from the approved protocol. The lead researcher apologized, stating he took full responsibility for his mistakes.

Company involved

Duke University

AI system involved

DukeMTMC

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Network Rail denies using AI cameras to detect passengers' emotions

Network Rail conducted a trial of AI cameras at major stations in 2022 that analysed demographic details and reportedly assessed emotions. Documents obtained by Big Brother Watch indicate the system was capable of determining whether a passenger was happy, sad or angry, with potential use for measuring satisfaction and advertising. Network Rail denied that any emotion analysis took place and stated the image analysis for demographic details has ended. Big Brother Watch has submitted a complaint to the Information Commissioner about the trial.

Company involved

Network Rail

AI system involved

Amazon Rekognition

7 source articles · read the reporting →

Oxford Town Centre CCTV dataset used without consent for AI research

The Oxford Town Centre dataset is a CCTV video of pedestrians in Oxford, England, captured from a public surveillance camera without the knowledge or consent of the approximately 2,200 people shown. The footage was used in over 60 research projects, including commercial research by Amazon, Disney, and Huawei, for developing facial recognition, sex classification, and social distancing algorithms. The dataset was taken down in June 2020, but no remediation was provided to the individuals depicted.

Company involved

University of Oxford

AI system involved

Oxford Town Centre dataset

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French police secretly used Briefcam facial recognition since 2015

The French National Police has been using Briefcam's Video Synopsis software since 2015, according to internal documents obtained by Disclose. The software, which includes facial recognition capabilities, was deployed without the required data protection impact assessment or notification to the CNIL. The Ministry of the Interior concealed the use of this tool for eight years. The police hierarchy allegedly used the software for facial recognition without judicial requisition, and the DGPN did not respond to requests for comment.

Company involved

French National Police

AI system involved

Briefcam Video Synopsis

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Jacksons Food Stores sued over facial recognition in Portland

Jacksons Food Stores is accused of violating a Portland, Oregon, city ordinance by using facial recognition technology in its stores after the ban took effect. The lawsuit, filed in December 2022, alleges the system, supplied by Blue Line Technology, wrongly identifies people as criminals and disproportionately affects women and people of colour. Customers were required to look at a camera and be scanned before entering. The retailer has not responded to the allegations.

Company involved

Jacksons Food Stores

AI system involved

First Line

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Developer iperov releases DeepFaceLive real-time face-swap AI on GitHub

The developer iperov has published DeepFaceLive, a neural network for real-time face swapping, on GitHub. The tool automatically replaces a user's face in live streams and video calls with a nonexistent model or a celebrity, and the installation instructions are simple. The developer claims 95% of deepfakes on YouTube were made with the related DeepFaceLab. No specific harm is reported, but the article highlights the tool's potential for misuse.

Company involved

iperov

AI system involved

DeepFaceLive

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Vumacam's AI CCTV system flagged 28 black people as suspicious in Johannesburg suburbs

In Johannesburg suburbs, Vumacam's AI-powered CCTV network using iSentry software flagged 28 black individuals as 'suspicious' in a shift report, according to a 2019 article. The system, deployed by private security firms, uses video analytics to detect abnormal behavior and alerts security guards. The article alleges that the system disproportionately targets people of color, reflecting racial bias in a racially divided country.

Company involved

Vumacam

AI system involved

iSentry

6 source articles · read the reporting →

Bahia Facial Recognition System Misidentifies Black Man as Wanted Criminal

Davi, a black administrative assistant, was tracked across 15 metro stations and approached by police after Bahia's facial recognition system falsely matched him to a wanted person. He was released after officers verified his identity. The system, supplied by Iecisa and Huawei, has a low accuracy rate and disproportionately affects black people. The government plans to expand it despite concerns over racial bias and errors.

Company involved

Secretaria de Segurança Pública da Bahia

2 source articles · read the reporting →

Duke University MTMC Dataset Used in Authoritarian Surveillance Research

Duke University created and openly distributed the Duke MTMC dataset, containing surveillance footage of approximately 2,000 students and visitors on campus. The dataset was used by numerous organisations, including Chinese military-linked companies like SenseTime and Hikvision, for developing person re-identification and facial recognition technologies. Following an investigation by exposing.ai and the Financial Times, Duke University terminated the dataset in May 2019. The incident highlights the privacy risks of academic datasets being repurposed for mass surveillance without consent.

Company involved

Duke University

AI system involved

Duke MTMC

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Google contractors targeted homeless people for Pixel 4 facial recognition data

Google hired Randstad to collect facial data to train the Pixel 4's face recognition system. Contractors allegedly targeted homeless people and unaware students, using deceptive tactics such as calling it a "selfie game" and offering $5 without informing subjects they were being recorded. Google suspended the research program and opened an investigation following the report.

Company involved

Google

AI system involved

Pixel 4 facial recognition

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