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.

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236 incidents closest to “Consumer Report by Plaid Check” · matched on meaning · public reporting

Facebook exempted Trump and other high-profile users from content enforcement rules.

An internal Facebook program called XCheck granted special treatment to millions of high-profile users, including former President Donald Trump and Senator Elizabeth Warren, exempting them from content enforcement rules. The program, initially for quality control, was expanded to whitelist users deemed newsworthy or PR-risky, with the system failing to enforce rules against them. Internal documents revealed that the program made mistakes, often wrongly taking action against high-profile users. Facebook has attempted to phase out the practice but has struggled.

Company involved
Facebook
AI system involved
XCheck

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-WNQZLI1 Jan 2020

Clearview AI settles with ACLU over facial recognition database sales

Clearview AI has agreed to stop selling its facial recognition database to most private US companies as part of a proposed settlement with the ACLU. The company scraped billions of images from social media without consent to build its database, violating Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act. The settlement requires Clearview to delete old facial vectors and allow Illinois residents to opt out. The company can still sell its technology to law enforcement and government agencies.

Company involved
Clearview AI
AI system involved
Clearview AI facial recognition database

8 source articles · read the reporting →

Amazon's Choice Algorithm Recommends Defective and Misleading Products

Amazon's 'Amazon's Choice' label, awarded by an algorithm based on reviews, price, and stock, has been found to recommend defective and potentially dangerous products. Examples include an inaccurate infant thermometer, a flask that turned alcohol black, and a vacuum that barely worked. The algorithm also failed to detect review manipulation, such as recycled reviews for unrelated products. Amazon acknowledged the issues and stated it uses human and automated techniques to ensure quality, but the label continues to mislead consumers.

Company involved
Amazon
AI system involved
Amazon's Choice

1 source article · read the reporting →

Government Questions Avride Crash Reports About Injuries - Car Complaints

Federal regulators questioned Avride's reports of crashes involving its autonomous vehicles, including how injuries to occupants were reported.

Company involved
Avride
AI system involved
Avride automated driving system

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-6LKJQA1 Jan 2022

Instacart used AI to charge different customers different prices for same items

Instacart, a grocery delivery company, was found to have used AI pricing algorithms to charge some customers up to 23% more than others for identical products at the same location. Research by Groundwork Collaborative, Consumer Reports, and More Perfect Union, based on data from 437 shoppers, revealed price fluctuations averaging 7%. Instacart acquired the AI firm Eversight in 2022 and began experimenting with dynamic pricing. The company stated that the tests have ended.

Company involved
Instacart

6 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-DYR3NM1 Jun 2021

State Farm accused of algorithmic bias against Black homeowners

A class action lawsuit filed in Chicago alleges State Farm's automated claims processing system discriminates against Black policyholders. The suit claims Black customers are more likely to face additional paperwork and longer waits for claim approval than white customers, citing data from 800 homeowners. State Farm has stated it takes the filing seriously and is committed to fair treatment, while the plaintiffs seek to enjoin the current system and require audits.

Company involved
State Farm
AI system involved
automated claims processing system

2 source articles · read the reporting →

NHTSA investigation PE25012: Traffic safety violations while Full Self Driving ("FSD") is engaged

The system made driving decisions that violated traffic safety laws, affecting other road users.

Company involved
Tesla, Inc.
AI system involved
Full Self Driving (FSD)

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-GCB7V21 Jan 2026

OpenClaw vulnerabilities enable data leakage and prompt injection

In January 2026, researchers at Giskard exploited a deployment of OpenClaw, an open-source agentic AI. They found that architectural weaknesses in the Control UI and session management allowed prompt injection and unauthorized tool use, leading to potential data leakage across user sessions. The article outlines hardening steps to prevent such vulnerabilities.

AI system involved
OpenClaw

6 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-4H0F955 Feb 2026

Sainsbury's ejects man misidentified by facial recognition software

Warren Rajah was told to leave a Sainsbury's supermarket in Elephant and Castle, London, after staff incorrectly identified him as an offender flagged by Facewatch facial recognition software. The error occurred at the human verification stage, not the technology itself. Sainsbury's apologised and offered a £75 shopping voucher, and Facewatch confirmed Rajah was not on its database. Rajah criticised the lack of explanation and recourse, and expressed concern for vulnerable customers.

Company involved
Sainsbury's
AI system involved
Facewatch

5 source articles · read the reporting →

Apple Siri Settlement: How to Claim Up to $95 - Yahoo Finance

Apple Siri Settlement: How to Claim Up to $95 Yahoo Finance

Company involved
Apple
AI system involved
Siri

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-0ZQI8S4 Oct 2016

$30M Equifax hard inquiry dispute class action settlement - Top Class Actions

A class action, settled for $30 million, alleged that Equifax automatically rejected consumers' disputes of hard inquiries on their credit reports, sending a form letter instead of investigating.

Company involved
Equifax Information Services LLC

1 source article · read the reporting →

Mr Craig Hadley wrongly accused of fraud at Sports Direct shop using Facewatch facial recognition.

Mr Craig Hadley was wrongly accused of being a fraudster at a Rotherham Sports Direct shop using facial recognition technology supplied by Facewatch. The system flagged him as a known fraudster, but the alert was later attributed to human error. Big Brother Watch, a privacy campaign group, has raised concerns about the lack of due process in such systems.

Company involved
Sports Direct
AI system involved
Facewatch

2 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-8XLWG27 Jun 2024

Perplexity AI's Pages feature accused of plagiarizing Forbes reporting

Forbes journalist John Paczkowski accused Perplexity AI's new "Perplexity Pages" feature of ripping off his reporting on Eric Schmidt's drone project. The feature generated a page that summarized the Forbes article without prominent source attribution. Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas acknowledged the issue and said the feature would be improved.

Company involved
Perplexity AI
AI system involved
Perplexity Pages

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-DCO4UT1 Aug 2016

Allegheny County child neglect screening algorithm shows racial disparities

The Allegheny Family Screening Tool, an algorithm used to screen child neglect reports, has been found to flag a disproportionate number of Black children for mandatory investigation compared to white children. A technical glitch also presented wrong risk scores for over two years. County officials say social workers can override the algorithm and that the glitch has been fixed, but critics argue the tool hardens racial disparities and lacks transparency.

Company involved
Allegheny County Department of Human Services
AI system involved
Allegheny Family Screening Tool

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-ZV5P971 Dec 2022

Cybercheck AI tool challenged in Akron homicide cases

Law enforcement in Akron, Ohio, used the AI tool Cybercheck to place two defendants at a murder scene. Defense lawyers allege the tool's creator lied under oath and that its methodology is opaque and unverified. Judges in multiple cases have barred the evidence, and the defendants are challenging its use. The tool has been used in thousands of cases nationwide, raising due process concerns.

Company involved
Akron Police Department
AI system involved
Cybercheck

3 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-EEFSL81 Oct 2021

Airbnb bans users in Australia using trustworthiness algorithm

Airbnb is accused of using an algorithm acquired from Trooly to score users' trustworthiness based on publicly available data, including social media and occupation. Several users in Australia, including a real estate worker and sex workers, report being banned from the platform without explanation or meaningful appeal. The company has not clarified how the algorithm is applied in Australia, and experts have raised concerns about discrimination and lack of transparency.

Company involved
Airbnb
AI system involved
Trooly

4 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-9D8L0R21 Aug 2026

Capital Standard, LLC v. U.S. Bank National Association (CA Florida (2d)): AI-hallucinated content in court filing, Monetary Sanction; Adverse Costs…

The AI generated false legal citations that were included in a court filing, misleading the court.

1 source article · read the reporting →

WF-E84P7T1 Jan 2024

Consumer Reports calls for action against Meta over scam ad proliferation

Consumer Reports has called on the FTC and state attorneys general to take enforcement action against Meta for allowing billions of scam advertisements on its platforms. According to a Reuters investigation, Meta's own documents showed that the company delivered an estimated 15 billion scam ads per day in 2024, generating billions of dollars in revenue. Meta is accused of failing to identify and remove most scam ads, exposing users to fraudulent schemes and illegal products. Consumer Reports argues that Meta's practices constitute unfair business practices under the FTC Act and state laws.

Company involved
Meta

6 source articles · read the reporting →

Target's pregnancy prediction algorithm reveals teen's pregnancy to father

Target used a data mining algorithm to predict when customers were pregnant based on their purchases. The algorithm sent baby product coupons to a high school student, leading her father to complain to the store. The father later learned his daughter was indeed pregnant. Target subsequently altered the coupons to disguise the data mining.

Company involved
Target
AI system involved
Target pregnancy prediction algorithm

9 source articles · read the reporting →

Geico and other insurers charge higher premiums in minority neighborhoods than in white areas with similar risk

ProPublica's analysis of auto insurance premiums in California, Illinois, Texas and Missouri found that major insurers such as Geico, Allstate and Liberty Mutual charge minority neighborhoods up to 30% more than white areas with similar accident costs. The disparity is alleged to result from pricing algorithms that may inadvertently use zip code as a proxy for race. Otis Nash, a 26-year-old Chicagoan, pays $190.69 per month for Geico insurance while a white driver in a safer neighborhood pays $54.67. The insurers deny discrimination, stating they do not collect race data.

Company involved
Geico

5 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-YO5LY31 Jan 2022

CNAF algorithm flags single mother Juliette for welfare fraud investigation

In 2022, Juliette, a single mother on welfare in France, was flagged by CNAF's secretive fraud detection algorithm. A fraud investigator later determined she owed thousands of euros, which were deducted from her monthly payments. The algorithm, which scores half of France's population, is accused of discriminating against vulnerable people by using factors like single parenthood and low income.

Company involved
CNAF

10 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-UDZ5S924 Feb 2020

Tinder accused of age discrimination in Tinder Plus pricing

A CHOICE mystery shop found Tinder charging users over 30 up to five times more for Tinder Plus than younger users, with prices ranging from $6.99 to $34.37 per month. An anti-discrimination law expert says this likely breaches Australia's Age Discrimination Act 2004. Tinder did not respond to CHOICE's requests for comment, but settled a similar US lawsuit by stopping age-based pricing in California and compensating affected users.

Company involved
Tinder
AI system involved
Tinder Plus

4 source articles · read the reporting →

Whitebridge AI faces complaint over false reputation reports

Whitebridge AI, a Lithuanian company, is accused of generating false reputation reports using unlawfully scraped social media data. The reports contained false warnings for 'sexual nudity' and 'dangerous political content'. Privacy group Noyb filed a complaint with the Lithuanian data protection authority, alleging violations of the GDPR. The complainants sought access to their data but received no response, and were later required to provide a qualified electronic signature to correct errors.

Company involved
Whitebridge AI

6 source articles · read the reporting →

WF-C3J9XA9 May 2022

Upstart Holdings sued for securities fraud over AI model claims

Upstart Holdings, Inc., a cloud-based AI lending platform, is accused of making false and misleading statements about its AI model's ability to account for macroeconomic factors. The lawsuit, filed on May 13, 2022, alleges that the company's positive statements about its business were materially false. Investors suffered losses when Upstart's stock price fell 56% on May 9, 2022, after the company reduced its fiscal 2022 guidance.

Company involved
Upstart Holdings, Inc.
AI system involved
Upstart AI lending platform

10 source articles · read the reporting →

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