Facebook Allowed Age-Targeted Credit Card Ads Violating Its Policy
The Markup found that four companies—Aspiration, Hometap, Chime, and Varo Bank—ran Facebook ads for credit cards and home equity loans that were targeted by age, excluding users under 25 or 35. This practice violates Facebook's own anti-discrimination policy and may violate the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and California's Unruh Civil Rights Act. Facebook did not respond to requests for comment, and some advertisers said they would review their ad targeting.
- Company involved
- Facebook
- AI system involved
- Facebook Ad Platform
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Airbnb smart-pricing algorithm increased racial revenue gap, study finds
A study by Carnegie Mellon University found that Airbnb's smart-pricing algorithm increased the revenue gap between White and Black hosts, even though it narrowed the gap among hosts who adopted it. The algorithm, which sets daily prices automatically, was adopted by fewer Black hosts, so its suggested prices were closer to the optimum for White hosts. The researchers said the tool could reduce racial disparities only if more Black hosts adopted it.
- Company involved
- Airbnb
- AI system involved
- Airbnb smart-pricing algorithm
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Canadian Tire chided by BC privacy commissioner for facial recognition without consent
Canadian Tire deployed facial recognition in at least four British Columbia stores between 2018 and 2021 to curb theft and increase staff safety. The BC Privacy Commissioner investigated and found the retailer failed to show a reasonable purpose and did not obtain customer consent, violating the province's Personal Information Protection Act. After the investigation was announced, Canadian Tire discontinued use of the system at all 12 locations and deleted customer data. The commissioner recommended stronger privacy policies and government regulation of biometric technologies.
- Company involved
- Canadian Tire
10 source articles · read the reporting →
USPS algorithm RRECS causes pay cuts for two-thirds of rural mail carriers
The United States Postal Service (USPS) implemented a new algorithm, RRECS, to evaluate rural carrier routes and determine pay. Due to flaws in how carriers scanned packages, the algorithm underestimated route times, resulting in pay cuts for 66 per cent of rural carriers, some losing thousands of dollars annually. Carriers report that they were not adequately trained on the system and that the cuts are scheduled to take effect, though they have been postponed multiple times. The USPS stated that the system is the result of a nationally negotiated agreement.
- Company involved
- United States Postal Service
- AI system involved
- RRECS
9 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 →
TOV Realty, LLC v. Suarez; Kosel Equity, LLC v. MacGregor (SC Connecticut): AI-hallucinated content in court filing, 6 hours CLE;…
The AI generated legal briefs containing fabricated citations, which were submitted to the Connecticut Supreme Court.
- Company involved
- GLG Law LLC
- AI system involved
- ChatGPT
1 source article · read the reporting →
Study finds credit score algorithms less accurate for minorities
A study of 50 million US consumers found that credit scoring algorithms used by mortgage lenders are less accurate for minority and low-income applicants due to sparse credit data, leading to higher rejection rates. The inaccuracy is due to noise in the data, not bias, so fairer algorithms cannot fix it. The study suggests that adjusting for bias had no effect, and that addressing the inaccuracy could reduce disparities by 50%.
- Company involved
- Mortgage lenders (unnamed)
- AI system involved
- Credit scoring algorithms
6 source articles · read the reporting →
LoanDepot algorithm denied mortgage to Black couple in Charlotte
In August 2019, Crystal Marie and Eskias McDaniels, a Black couple, were denied a mortgage for a house in Charlotte, North Carolina, by loanDepot's automated underwriting algorithm. The algorithm rejected the application because Crystal Marie was a contractor, not a full-time employee, despite her high credit score and income. After the couple enlisted their real estate agent and employer to intervene, the lender reversed the decision and cleared them to close. The couple alleged that race played a role in the denial, which loanDepot denied.
- Company involved
- loanDepot
- AI system involved
- Classic FICO and Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac automated underwriting software
10 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 →
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 →
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 →
Southland Homes & Real Estate and Investment, LLC v. Lam (SC California): AI-hallucinated content in court filing, Monetary Sanctions; Bar…
The AI system generated legal briefs containing fabricated case citations, which were filed in court, affecting the court and the opposing party.
1 source article · 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 →
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 →
BC Tribunal Confirms Companies Remain Liable for AI Chatbot-Created Information - Lexology
The AI chatbot provided inaccurate information to a user.
1 source article · read the reporting →
Teleperformance deploys AI to neutralise Indian call centre agents' accents
Teleperformance, the world's largest call centre operator, has announced it is using AI from Sanas to modify the accents of its Indian employees in real time. The technology, called accent translation, aims to make agents sound more neutral to native English speakers. The company invested $13 million in Sanas and gained exclusive rights. No specific incident of harm has been reported.
- Company involved
- Teleperformance
- AI system involved
- Sanas AI
6 source articles · read the reporting →
Lyft approved driver with terrorism conviction due to background check failure
Lyft allowed a driver with a conviction for aiding terrorism to drive for the ride-sharing service. The driver, Raja L. Khan, had served seven years and was denied by Uber and the city of Chicago, but Lyft's independent background check provider approved him. After WGN Investigates reported the issue, Lyft deactivated the driver and apologised, stating the approval was unacceptable and that it would re-run background checks.
- Company involved
- Lyft
7 source articles · read the reporting →
Chicago class action challenges ShotSpotter's discriminatory stop-and-frisk deployments
ShotSpotter, a gunshot detection system used by the Chicago Police Department, generates alerts that lead to police deployments and stop-and-frisk stops. Analyses show over 90% of alerts are unfounded, and the system is deployed only in predominantly Black and Latinx districts. A class-action lawsuit against the City of Chicago alleges the system fuels unconstitutional and discriminatory policing, including false accusations against individuals like Michael Williams.
- Company involved
- City of Chicago
- AI system involved
- ShotSpotter
7 source articles · read the reporting →
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 →
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 →
Princeton Review charges higher SAT prep fees to Asian Americans
A ProPublica study found that Princeton Review's geographically-determined pricing system charges Asian American students almost twice as likely as other ethnicities to pay the highest prices for online SAT tutoring. The system sets prices based on location, with higher prices in areas like New York City where Asian Americans are concentrated. Princeton Review stated that prices reflect local costs and competition, but the disparity raises concerns about racial discrimination in automated pricing.
- Company involved
- Princeton Review
7 source articles · read the reporting →
Citizens Advice finds ethnicity penalty in car insurance pricing
Citizens Advice conducted exploratory research into car insurance pricing and found that people of colour may be paying £250 more per year than White people. The research suggests that areas with large communities of colour may be identified as more risky by algorithms, even when objective risk factors are controlled. Citizens Advice has called on the Financial Conduct Authority to investigate the issue.
9 source articles · read the reporting →
TransUnion AI tenant screening denied 75-year-old man apartment due to mistaken littering conviction
Chris Robinson, then 75, applied for a senior living apartment in California. The property manager used an AI screening program from TransUnion, which assigned him a low score based on a mistaken conviction for littering that belonged to a different person with the same name in Texas. Robinson lost the apartment and his application fee. A federal class-action lawsuit against TransUnion moved toward a $11.5 million settlement in 2023.
10 source articles · read the reporting →
MAA, JBG to pay DC $9.3M total to settle RealPage case - Multifamily Dive
The system set rent prices for tenants, causing them to pay higher rents.
- Company involved
- MAA (Mid-America Apartments) and JBG Smith
- AI system involved
- RealPage Revenue Management Software
1 source article · read the reporting →
