AI Failure Index
AI Computer Vision failures
Image and video recognition: facial recognition, object detection, visual inspection. Failures misidentify people and things with high confidence.
- Incidents
- 58
- Highest severity
- Catastrophic
- Sources cited
- 158
- Newest indexed
- Jun 22, 2026
Open all 58 in the research console
India's Poshan Tracker facial-recognition excludes eligible beneficiaries
The Poshan Tracker facial-recognition system failed to recognise mothers, excluding families from meals, preschool education, and health monitoring; government data cited a 52.7% ration delivery rate by end-2025.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
Essex Police pauses live facial recognition after Cambridge study finds racial bias
Essex Police paused live facial recognition after a Cambridge study found racial bias in the system, prompting regulatory mitigations and an ongoing review.
- Confidence
- High (multi-source, primary)
Home Bargains shoppers wrongfully accused by Facewatch facial recognition
The deployment of Facewatch facial recognition at Home Bargains led to the misidentification of innocent shoppers. This resulted in wrongful accusations of theft by store security and the sending of false evidence to customers.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
Sainsbury's customer wrongly ejected after facial recognition error
A customer at a Sainsbury's store in Elephant and Castle was misidentified as a known offender by the Facewatch facial recognition system. Although the system issued an alert, the incident was categorized as a human error where staff approached the wrong individual. Sainsbury's apologized and provided a voucher to the affected customer.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
US DHS agents use AI surveillance to threaten legal observers as domestic terrorists
In January 2026, US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents used AI-enabled surveillance to identify and intimidate legal observers. In one instance, an agent threatened an observer by claiming she was now considered a domestic terrorist in a government database.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
US Border Patrol facial recognition scan leads to Global Entry revocation
A US Border Patrol agent identified a neighborhood observer using facial recognition software, which was allegedly followed by the revocation of the observer's Global Entry status. The incident is reported as part of a pattern of surveillance and intimidation of protesters and observers.
- Confidence
- High (multi-source, primary)
Worldcoin suspended in Thailand over iris scanning privacy concerns
Thailand's Personal Data Protection Committee (PDPC) ordered Worldcoin to halt its iris scanning operations and delete over 1.2 million biometric records. The regulator concluded that the practice of trading biometric data for cryptocurrency breached the national Personal Data Protection Act.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
US law enforcement used ALPR networks to monitor protesters, raising privacy concerns
An investigation by the Electronic Frontier Foundation documented law enforcement use of Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) data to search for and track protesters and activists. Local governments and advocates responded with policy actions and contract terminations, and the vendor publicly defended its product.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
Roblox AI age verification system misidentifies minors as adults
Roblox deployed an AI facial scanning system to verify user ages, which subsequently failed by misclassifying minors as adults. This compromise of the age-gating mechanism undermined child safety efforts on the platform.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
Rotherham man mistaken for fraudster by facial recognition software
Craig Hadley was wrongly identified as a fraudster by facial recognition software at a Sports Direct store in Rotherham. The error led to him being accused of fraud and removed from the premises.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
NYPD facial recognition match leads to wrongful arrest of Trevis Williams
Two independent outlets report that NYPD used facial recognition to arrest Trevis Williams, despite height and location discrepancies, leading to jail time before charges were dismissed; advocacy groups are pushing for policy changes.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
City of Orléans audio surveillance ruled illegal by French court
A French administrative court ruled that the City of Orléans' deployment of AI-powered audio surveillance in public spaces was illegal. The court found that the system lacked a proper legal basis and infringed upon fundamental privacy rights.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
Foodstuffs facial recognition misidentifies Māori shopper at Rotorua New World
On 2024-04-02 a Māori woman shopping at New World Westend in Rotorua was approached by store staff and told she had been trespassed after a facial recognition alert from a Foodstuffs trial. The customer offered three forms of photo ID but was still asked to leave; Foodstuffs called it a genuine case of human error and said it reported the incident to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. Experts and the Privacy Commissioner raised concerns about bias and accuracy in the trialled system, which was trained on international data and not specifically on New Zealand populations.
- Confidence
- High (multi-source, primary)
Worldcoin suspended in Spain after regulator orders halt to biometric data processing
Spain's Data Protection Agency (AEPD) issued a precautionary measure on 2024-03-06 preventing Worldcoin (Tools for Humanity) from processing personal data in Spain. The action followed complaints alleging insufficient information and concerns about the collection and processing of biometric iris scans. Subsequent reporting indicated Spanish authorities later ordered deletion of data collected in Spain.
- Confidence
- High (multi-source, primary)
Met Police facial recognition wrongly matched youth worker Shaun Thompson
In February 2024 Shaun Thompson, a youth advocacy worker, was stopped and questioned after the Metropolitan Police's live facial‑recognition system matched him to a watchlist entry. The encounter lasted around 30 minutes and ended when Thompson produced ID; he subsequently brought a High Court challenge to the Met's use of LFR, which was dismissed on 2026-04-21. Reporting on the case is documented by multiple independent outlets including the BBC and The Independent.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
Comune di Trento fined 50,000 euros for illegal AI surveillance projects
The Italian Garante Privacy fined Comune di Trento €50,000 for deploying AI systems that violated GDPR rules through insufficient anonymization and lack of impact assessments. The city was ordered to delete the collected data from the MARVEL and PROTECTOR projects.
- Confidence
- High (multi-source, primary)
PimEyes alleged to have been used to identify anonymous porn actors
News reporting and an incident repository document that PimEyes has been used to identify anonymous porn performers by matching images. Business Insider reported instances of the service being used to unmask porn actors and an AIAAIC repository entry records the same misuse.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
Rite Aid Banned from Using Facial Recognition After FTC Settlement
Rite Aid used AI facial recognition for shoplifter identification, which led to thousands of incorrect matches, specifically targeting women and people of color. This resulted in an FTC settlement and a five-year ban on the technology's use for surveillance.
- Confidence
- High (multi-source, primary)
Communauté de communes Cœur Côte Fleurie ordered to delete AI-surveillance data
In November 2023 a French administrative court ordered the Communauté de communes Cœur Côte Fleurie to stop using an augmented camera system coupled with algorithmic video-surveillance and to delete personal data obtained via the system. The court concluded the system permitted automated identification and tracking of people and therefore constituted a serious and manifestly unlawful interference with privacy; the originals were placed under seal with the CNIL.
- Confidence
- High (multi-source, primary)
Israeli military intelligence deploys mass facial recognition in Gaza
Israeli military intelligence units used an experimental facial recognition program to surveil Palestinians in Gaza. The system misidentified civilians as militants, leading to wrongful detentions.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
Paraná rolls out facial recognition for school attendance, draws privacy criticism
The Paraná state government introduced facial-recognition for in-class attendance across hundreds of public schools in 2023, a move described in official communications as expanding an AI attendance system. Multiple independent outlets and civil-society reports criticised the program as invasive and potentially violating students' rights and privacy, highlighting lack of safeguards for biometric data of minors.
- Confidence
- High (multi-source, primary)
Canadian Tire stores used facial ID systems that breached B.C. privacy law
The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia concluded on April 20, 2023 that several Canadian Tire associate stores used facial recognition technology to capture images, create biometric templates, and compare visitors against a Persons of Interest database without adequate notice or consent, breaching the Personal Information Protection Act. The investigation covered four stores directly and noted up to 12 stores had used the technology; the systems were removed and the OIPC recommended stronger regulation and improved privacy management. No financial penalties were reported in the public record.
- Confidence
- High (multi-source, primary)
Telangana police allegedly torture and kill man following facial recognition misidentification
A man in Telangana, India, was wrongly arrested after facial recognition technology misidentified him as a criminal. He was allegedly tortured in custody and later died from his injuries.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
Madison Square Garden facial recognition flags lawyers and denies entry
In late 2022, news outlets reported that Madison Square Garden Entertainment used facial‑recognition software to match attendees against an exclusion list of lawyers affiliated with firms suing the company, and several attorneys with valid tickets were turned away from events. The policy and its enforcement prompted multiple lawsuits and a formal inquiry by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Critics and lawmakers alleged the system produced wrongful exclusions and chilled legal advocacy; MSG defended the policy as a security measure.
- Confidence
- High (multi-source, primary)
Randal Quran Reid wrongfully arrested due to facial recognition misidentification
Randal Quran Reid was wrongfully arrested in Georgia due to a facial recognition error by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office. The agency relied on an incorrect match without verifying if the subject had ever visited Louisiana. The incident led to a lawsuit and a subsequent $200,000 settlement.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
Canadian proctoring biometrics found to fail legal thresholds for consent and discrimination
An academic report from the University of Ottawa, supported by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, found that widely used online exam proctoring tools collect biometric and personal data under conditions that do not meet Canadian legal standards for meaningful consent and raise privacy and discrimination concerns. Press coverage and the OPC project page documented the report’s findings in November-December 2022, noting risks from AI-driven facial detection and monitoring as well as cross-border data control issues.
- Confidence
- High (multi-source, primary)
Cleveland State University room-scan proctoring ruled to violate student privacy
In Ogletree v. Cleveland State University a federal judge found that the university's requirement for a student to perform a webcam room scan as part of remote exam proctoring violated the student's privacy. The case concerned the use of online proctoring software and the university's mandate that students show their surroundings before taking exams. The court opinion and multiple news outlets reported on the ruling in August 2022.
- Confidence
- High (multi-source, primary)
ID.me facial recognition failures lock unemployment beneficiaries out of systems
ID.me deployed a facial recognition system to verify unemployment claimants and prevent fraud. The system's failure to accurately identify many legitimate users led to widespread lockouts and delayed benefit payments.
- Confidence
- High (multi-source, primary)
Meta settles Texas facial recognition lawsuit for $1.4 billion
Meta agreed to pay $1.4 billion to resolve a lawsuit brought by the Texas Attorney General regarding the unauthorized use of biometric data. The case alleged the company captured facial data from users without their informed consent.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)
Steak 'n Shake sued for alleged facial biometric violations
Steak 'n Shake is facing a class action lawsuit for allegedly violating the Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The suit claims the company illegally collected facial biometric data from customers using PopID kiosks.
- Confidence
- Medium (multi-source)