Tech for Bad Hall of Shame
Where we collect examples of tech, especially civic tech, being used for anti-social purposes, such as by dictators or autocrats.
"(T)here is no longer a meaningful distinction between digital authoritarianism and authoritarianism of any other kind as online information control has become foundational to illiberal governance." - OTF President Laura Cunningham
Max and Lime HD TV
Russian state-mandated apps for mobiles and TVs
Sanchar Saathi
Messaging app owned by the Indian state, which is attempting to force mobile platforms to pre-install
MAX
Russia's state-controlled, unencrypted messaging (super)app.
Algorithmic Accountability in the UK - How FOIA Sheds Light on Automated Welfare
This study examines 51 Freedom of Information requests to reveal how the UK’s Department for Work and Pensions uses opaque data-driven fraud detection systems in welfare, highlighting the limited tran...
RealPage
Algorithmic rent-price setting company
DOGE Master Database
WIRED: DOGE is knitting together data from the Department of Homeland Security, Social Security Administration, and IRS that could create a surveillance tool of unprecedented scope.
ICERAID
Right-wing influencers are shilling an immigrant bounty hunting app
Street Level Surveillance
EFF’s Street-Level Surveillance project shines a light on the surveillance technologies that law enforcement agencies routinely deploy in our communities.
AI Vulnerability Database (AVID)
An open-source, extensible knowledge base of AI failures
Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)
"An official website of the United States government" but mostly an embedded X feed
Automating School Surveillance: How Student Vape Detection Technologies Threaten to Expand the School-to-Prison Pipeline in Minnesota and Beyond
Report by Ending Youth Surveillance and NOTICE Coalition published November 2024
Screened Out of Housing
How AI-powered tenant screening hurts renters: Research paper by TechEquity Collaborative
Surveillance Watch
Surveillance Watch is an interactive map that documents the hidden connections within the opaque surveillance industry.
MIT AI Risk Repository
The MIT AI risk Repository is a comprehensive living database of over 1000 AI risks categorized by their cause and risk domain.
Rest of World Elections AI Tracker
Throughout 2024, Rest of World is tracking the most noteworthy incidents of AI-generated election content globally.
Artificial Intelligence Incident Database
Search over 2000 reports of AI harms
Unfreedom Monitor
The Unfreedom Monitor, a project of Global Voices, is a project to analyze, document, and report on the growing use of digital communications technology to advance authoritarian governance around the...
Trapped in a Web: The Exploitation of Personal Data in Hungary’s 2022 Elections
The [Human Rights Watch] report finds that data collected by the state for administering public services, such as registering for the Covid vaccine, administering tax benefits, and mandatory membershi...
Bail-setting algorithms in Philadelphia
Philadelphia should think twice about its risk-assessment algorithm.