Study Finds COMPAS Sentencing Algorithm No More Accurate Than Random People, Shows Racial Bias
A study by Dartmouth College researchers found that the COMPAS recidivism risk assessment algorithm, used by judges in several US states, is no more accurate than random people recruited online. The algorithm, developed by Equivalent, exhibited racial bias by classifying black defendants as higher risk and white defendants as lower risk, leading to harsher rehabilitation recommendations for black defendants. The bias likely stems from skewed arrest rate data. The findings build on a 2016 ProPublica investigation.
- Company involved
- Broward County courts
- AI system involved
- COMPAS
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Revere police officer used Flock system to track ex-girlfriend’s whereabouts, records show; suspended for 3 days - The Boston Globe
The Flock license plate reader system tracked Marissa Todisco's vehicle locations, which Officer Tiso accessed for personal reasons.
- Company involved
- Flock Safety
- AI system involved
- Flock camera system
1 source article · read the reporting →
JPSO's facial recognition leads to wrongful arrest of Georgia man
The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office used facial recognition technology to identify Randal Reid as a suspect in a theft of luxury purses. The algorithm produced a false match, and a detective secured an arrest warrant based on it. Reid was arrested in Georgia and jailed for almost a week before the warrant was rescinded. His lawyer says the sheriff's office tacitly admitted the error.
- Company involved
- Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office
1 source article · read the reporting →
Driver Assistance System Leads to Rear-End Crash; Freeway Bureau Calls for Inclusion in Driving Tests and Mandatory Dealer Disclosure
輔助駕駛系統釀追撞 高公局：應納入監理考題、賣車時強制告知 - udn
A secondary rear-end collision on National Highway 1 occurred after a driver using adaptive cruise control failed to detect stationary vehicles. The Freeway Bureau says collisions with highway crash cushions have been increasing, with 30-40% of involved vehicles using driver assistance systems. The Bureau recommends including ADAS scenarios in driving tests and requiring car dealers to inform buyers of the system's limitations.
- AI system involved
- ACC (Adaptive Cruise Control) and ADAS
1 source article · read the reporting →
TRT-RS's Galileu AI Detects Prompt Injection Attempt in Legal Petition
The Galileu AI system, developed by the Tribunal Regional do Trabalho da 4ª Região (TRT-RS) and nationalised by the Conselho Superior da Justiça do Trabalho (CSJT), detected a prompt injection attempt in a petition filed at the 3rd Labour Court of Parauapebas, Pará. The system alerted the magistrate, who reviewed the content and made a decision based on human verification, in line with judicial AI supervision requirements. The court reported that the system prevented the malicious content from being processed and highlighted the importance of institutional AI tools with security measures.
- Company involved
- Tribunal Regional do Trabalho da 4ª Região
- AI system involved
- Galileu
1 source article · read the reporting →
ShotSpotter Missed 47% of Gunshot Victims in Chicago Police Data
Between October 2017 and July 2018, a Chicago police analyst tracked ShotSpotter's accuracy in the 10th district and found it correctly detected only 63 of 135 shootings where a person was struck, a 47% rate. The analyst shared the findings with CPD and ShotSpotter, and the company installed additional sensors, but accuracy remained below 50%. Despite this, the city signed a $33 million contract extension. SoundThinking says the system meets performance guarantees and has helped locate hundreds of victims.
- Company involved
- Chicago Police Department
- AI system involved
- ShotSpotter
1 source article · read the reporting →
Chicago Police's Secretive Strategic Subject List Disproportionately Scores Black Men
The Chicago Police Department has used the Strategic Subject List since 2012, an algorithm that assigns risk scores to individuals based on arrest records. The list was kept secret until a court forced its release, revealing that 56% of black men aged 20-29 have a score, and only 3.6% of those on the list were involved in violence. Despite claims it is not used for enforcement, documents show it influences police deployment and arrests, leading to allegations of racial bias and lack of transparency.
- Company involved
- Chicago Police Department
- AI system involved
- Strategic Subject List
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Legal challenge against Met Police's discriminatory Gangs Matrix
The Metropolitan Police's Gangs Violence Matrix is a secretive database that disproportionately affects Black individuals. Liberty and the Civil Liberties Trust launched a judicial review on behalf of Awate Suleiman and UNJUST, alleging the Matrix discriminates on racial grounds and breaches human rights and data protection laws. The case resulted in the Met agreeing to overhaul the Matrix.
- Company involved
- Metropolitan Police
- AI system involved
- Gangs Violence Matrix
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Navy unmanned vessel capsizes support boat during test off California coast
On 23 June 2025, during a U.S. Navy test of an unmanned surface vessel near Channel Islands Harbor, California, the drone received an inadvertent command that caused it to accelerate and capsize a support boat. The tugboat captain was thrown into the water but was rescued by emergency responders and declined medical attention. The Navy halted the test, conducted a safety stand-down, and is implementing additional safety procedures. A preliminary investigation indicated the incident was caused by the inadvertent command, though it is unclear whether it originated from a human or technical malfunction.
- Company involved
- U.S. Navy
1 source article · 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 →
Australian terrorism prediction tool Vera-2R flagged autism as criminality risk factor
An independent report found that the Australian government's Vera-2R terrorism risk assessment tool included autism spectrum disorders as a risk factor without empirical evidence. The tool was used to assess terrorist offenders, influencing post-sentence orders including ongoing detention. Despite the critical report being received in May 2020, the federal and NSW governments continued to use the tool. The report concluded the tool was 'extremely poor' at predicting risk.
- Company involved
- Department of Home Affairs
- AI system involved
- Vera-2R
1 source article · read the reporting →
Gamma AI Presentation Tool Exploited in Multi-Stage Phishing Campaign
Threat actors used Gamma, an AI-powered presentation builder, to host a page that redirected recipients to a fake Microsoft SharePoint login portal. Emails sent from compromised legitimate accounts passed authentication checks, while a Cloudflare Turnstile blocked automated security scanners. An adversary-in-the-middle framework validated credentials in real time and captured session cookies, enabling multi-factor authentication bypass on Microsoft accounts. Abnormal reported the campaign on 15 April 2025.
- AI system involved
- Gamma
7 source articles · read the reporting →
Lockport City School District's Facial Recognition System Misidentified Black Faces and Weapons
Lockport City School District deployed SN Technologies' AEGIS face and weapons detection system in January 2020. Parents and the New York Civil Liberties Union allege the system misidentifies Black people more often than white people and falsely detects weapons such as broom handles. A lawsuit was filed against the New York State Education Department seeking to ban facial recognition in schools. SN Technologies denied misleading the district.
- Company involved
- Lockport City School District
- AI system involved
- AEGIS
1 source article · read the reporting →
West Midlands Police AI Error Led to Zero Ticket Allocation for Maccabi Tel Aviv Fans
West Midlands Police used Microsoft Copilot to search for information when preparing a report for the Safety Advisory Group about the Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv fixture. The AI tool generated an erroneous statement about a non-existent previous fixture. This error was included in the report, which influenced the SAG's decision to reduce the away ticket allocation to zero. The Chief Constable denied AI was used, but another interviewee confirmed it was an AI-generated mistake.
- Company involved
- West Midlands Police
- AI system involved
- Microsoft Copilot
2 source articles · read the reporting →
Met Police's Gang Violence Matrix accused of racial discrimination
The Metropolitan Police Service's Gang Violence Matrix, a database scoring individuals on gang involvement risk, has been accused by Amnesty International of being racially discriminatory and breaching human rights law. The matrix, set up after the 2011 London riots, holds data on about 3,800 people, with 78% being black. The Information Commissioner's Office is investigating the database.
- Company involved
- Metropolitan Police Service
- AI system involved
- Gang Violence Matrix
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Durham Police uses Experian Mosaic data in HART AI risk tool
Durham Constabulary developed the Harm Assessment Risk Tool (HART), a machine learning algorithm that assesses the recidivism risk of offenders. The tool uses 34 data categories including criminal history, age, gender and two types of postcode, one sourced from Experian's Mosaic marketing segmentation system. Big Brother Watch alleges that using such commercial consumer behaviour data to inform custody decisions risks prejudice and disproportionate targeting of deprived neighbourhoods. The force has stated it is refreshing the model with an aim to remove one of the postcode predictors.
- Company involved
- Durham Constabulary
- AI system involved
- Harm Assessment Risk Tool (HART)
9 source articles · read the reporting →
Met Police scraps gang violence matrix after discrimination concerns
The Metropolitan Police scrapped its Gangs Violence Matrix (GVM) database after over a decade, following concerns about racial disproportionality. The tool was used to identify individuals at risk of gang violence in London and disproportionately affected young black men, impacting their housing, education, benefits, employment, and legal rights. A legal challenge by charity Liberty on behalf of musician Awate Suleiman led to an agreement to overhaul the system, and it has now been replaced with a Violence Harm Assessment (VHA) tool.
- Company involved
- Metropolitan Police Service
- AI system involved
- Gangs Violence Matrix (GVM)
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Chicago PD predictive policing program led to man being shot twice
In 2013, the Chicago Police Department's predictive policing algorithm placed Robert McDaniel on a 'heat list' as a potential shooter or shooting victim. Police visited McDaniel and warned him they would be watching him. McDaniel, who had no violent history, was later shot twice. The algorithm's prediction became a self-fulfilling prophecy, according to the article.
- Company involved
- Chicago Police Department
- AI system involved
- heat list
10 source articles · read the reporting →
ACLU test finds Rekognition falsely matches 27 New England athletes to mugshots
The ACLU of Massachusetts conducted a test using Amazon's Rekognition facial recognition technology, comparing headshots of 188 New England professional athletes to a database of 20,000 arrest photos. The software falsely matched 27 athletes, including Patriots safety Duron Harmon. The ACLU is calling for a moratorium on government use of face surveillance technology.
- Company involved
- ACLU of Massachusetts
- AI system involved
- Rekognition
8 source articles · read the reporting →
ICO finds Met Police's Gangs Matrix breached data protection laws
The Information Commissioner's Office found that the Metropolitan Police Service's Gangs Matrix breached data protection laws, including by assigning automated harm scores to people suspected of gang involvement without proper impact assessments or safeguards. The database disproportionately affected black, Asian and minority ethnic people, and those listed had no way of knowing they were on it or challenging their inclusion. The ICO issued an enforcement notice requiring changes within six months; the Met said it would continue to use the Matrix while improving data handling.
- Company involved
- Metropolitan Police Service
- AI system involved
- Gangs Matrix
8 source articles · read the reporting →
UDR Sued Over Alleged Use of RealPage Algorithm to Set Rents in San Diego
A class action lawsuit alleges that UDR, Inc. used RealPage's YieldStar algorithmic pricing software to set rental rates and occupancy levels for its San Diego properties, in violation of a local ordinance. The suit claims the software relied on nonpublic competitor data, contributing to inflated rents and making housing less affordable. The lawsuit, filed in July 2026, seeks to represent all affected tenants. UDR has previously acknowledged using YieldStar as one tool among others in its decision-making.
- Company involved
- UDR, Inc.
- AI system involved
- RealPage YieldStar
1 source article · read the reporting →
Titus Henderson files civil rights lawsuit against COMPAS
Titus Henderson, a prisoner, filed a civil rights lawsuit against COMPAS and other defendants in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin on July 16, 2018. The lawsuit alleges discrimination related to the use of the COMPAS risk assessment tool. The case is ongoing.
- AI system involved
- COMPAS
6 source articles · read the reporting →
New York City's McKinsey-led jail violence program manipulated data, violence increased
New York City paid McKinsey & Company $27.5 million to reduce violence at Rikers Island jail complex. McKinsey designed a predictive algorithm called the Housing Unit Balancer and Restart housing units, but jail officials and McKinsey consultants stacked the units with compliant inmates to artificially lower violence numbers. Violence actually increased by nearly 50% during the project. The city eventually decided to close Rikers.
- Company involved
- New York City Department of Correction
- AI system involved
- Housing Unit Balancer (HUB)
10 source articles · read the reporting →
Israeli military uses Smash Hopper turret against Palestinian protesters
The Israeli military deployed Smash Hopper remote-controlled gun turrets in the West Bank. The turrets fire stun grenades, less-than-lethal bullets, and tear gas at Palestinian protesters without warning. The systems were observed at Al-Aroub refugee camp and Hebron in October 2022. The Smash Hopper is produced by Smart Shooter.
- Company involved
- Israeli military
- AI system involved
- Smash Hopper
10 source articles · read the reporting →
