{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-08T06:44:15.854Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"data-protection","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":2,"coverage":{"cases":2,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":1,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":1,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":1,"minors":0,"coreRelations":2,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-england-former-social-media-employee-finds-ai-altered-image-of-herself-in-ex-employer-ad-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'My former role at a brand was in social media and I regularly created content to feature in organic and paid media. Majority of the content was taken on my phone in my own home'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says she worked in social media for a brand, regularly creating content for its organic and paid media, much of it filmed on her own phone at home.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'It’s been 4 months since I worked there and recently I came across a social media ad that uses an image of me and it’s been made with AI. The original image is a still taken from a video I made while working there'; 'The still is the same image however my eyes are a different colour and tattoos are gone'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says that about four months after leaving she came across a social media ad using an image of her made with AI: a still from a video she filmed while employed, altered so that her eyes are a different colour and her tattoos are gone.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; the AI alteration is her inference from the changed image. No employer statement was retrieved."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'It was used with ChatGPT, I know that’s the only ai they used plus I can tell'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In a reply the poster says the alteration was done with ChatGPT, which she identifies as the only AI tool the company used.","causal_attribution":"Poster's inference; the tool is not otherwise established."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I feel incredibly uncomfortable that my image was put through AI for these purposes'; 'It’s pretty upsetting to see a version of yourself on the internet'; 'it was in general something I opposed to openly without getting people’s consent'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says she finds the use of her altered image upsetting and disturbing, and that she had opposed using people's images without consent while at the company.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account of her own reaction."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I have seen other ads with me being reused since I left which I expected for a while, but they haven’t been altered'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says she expected content she made to be reused in ads after she left, and that other reused ads have not been altered.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; distinguishes the altered ad from ordinary reuse."}],"effects":[{"label":"AI-altered image of a former employee used in an ex-employer's ad without her consent (poster's account)","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/comments/1wzqiel/former_job_made_ai_ad_with_my_image_uk/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-08: full self-text and the 36 comments retrieved through the arctic_shift archive API by post ID, 13 of them replies by the poster. The poster handle is not recorded.","independence_group":"reddit-legaladviceuk-ex-employer-ai-ad-poster"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["work","privacy"],"unknowns":["The employer and brand, and the platforms on which the ad ran.","The tool actually used; ChatGPT is the poster's inference.","When the ad was created and first shown; the poster says only that she came across it recently, about four months after leaving.","Whether the employer responded to any request to stop using the altered image.","The contractual position on content the poster made during her employment."],"geography":{"basis":"The poster states \"This is in England\", which places her former employment and the ad she saw in the UK. No court proceedings; the ACAS conciliation she mentions concerns her dismissal and is not a court.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["GB"],"affected_person_countries":["GB"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the public-forum rule as a concrete first-person account of an AI-altered likeness used in a former employer's advertisement without the person's consent, with the alteration and the ChatGPT identification attributed to the poster as her inference. Described with attribution and without corroboration; the employer is not named, the poster's handle is not recorded, and details of her dismissal are omitted.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-08"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster says a still from her own video was put through AI and used in her former employer's social media ad with her eye colour changed and her tattoos removed, and in a reply identifies the tool as ChatGPT because it was the only AI tool the company used and she can tell from the image. The AI system's output, an altered depiction of the poster, is the artifact in the ad, and the poster connects seeing that altered version of herself to her discomfort and distress. The identification of AI and of ChatGPT rests on the poster's inference from the altered image and her knowledge of the company's tools; no employer statement or ad metadata was retrieved, so the status is suspected.","status":"suspected"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Former social-media employee in England says her ex-employer's ad uses an AI-altered still of her, eye colour changed and tattoos removed (first-person)","summary":"In a public post to r/LegalAdviceUK created on 7 October 2026, a person who says she worked in social media for a brand in England, creating content for its organic and paid media, writes that about four months after leaving she came across a social media ad using an image of her that had been made with AI. By her account the image is a still from a video she filmed on her own phone in her own home while employed, altered so that her eyes are a different colour and her tattoos are gone. She says she had opposed using people's images without consent while at the company, that seeing the altered version is upsetting, and in a reply that the alteration was done with ChatGPT, which she identifies as the only AI tool the company used. The employer is not named and did not respond in the thread. The account is the poster's alone and uncorroborated.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-10-07","aiSystem":"An AI image tool that, by the poster's account, her former employer used to alter a still from her video for a social media ad; in a reply she identifies it as ChatGPT (\"the only ai they used plus I can tell\")","aiProduct":"ChatGPT (suspected)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The poster says an AI-altered version of her image, with changed eye colour and removed tattoos, was used in her former employer's social media ad without her consent, which she describes as upsetting and disturbing (first-person account, uncorroborated).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person counted: the poster, whose altered likeness she says appears in the ad. The alteration was the former employer's use, so the poster is counted under others' use rather than as a direct user.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"GB","platformType":"other","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/LegalAdviceUK/comments/1wzqiel/former_job_made_ai_ad_with_my_image_uk/","primarySourceLabel":"r/LegalAdviceUK, 7 October 2026: \"Former job made AI ad with my image uk\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-08T03:27:59.814816+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-08T03:27:59.814816+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","likeness","advertising","image-alteration","workplace","england","data-protection"]},{"id":"2026-uk-grok-sexualised-images-two-women-police-cases-closed-no-suspect-identified","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'Grok obliged, moulding her profile photo onto a nude body wrapped in see-through plastic'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Grok, the platform’s AI chatbot, obliged by moulding her profile photo onto a nude body in see-through plastic'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'were created using the chatbot and shared without her consent'; 'after speaking out, she saw AI-generated images of herself had been created without her consent'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Explicit or sexualised images of the presenter were generated with Grok at anonymous X users' request and posted on X without her consent around New Year 2026, after she had publicly criticised Grok.","causal_attribution":"The presenter's account to TBIJ/The Observer and, separately, to BBC Wales in January 2026; TBIJ inspected the requesting account."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'After reporting her case to South Wales Police on 2 January'; 'wasn’t invited to give a statement until March'; 'Her case was closed after the police requests to X went unanswered'; 'Despite the efforts of investigators, no suspect could be identified'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'the investigation was closed in May'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The presenter reported the image to South Wales Police on 2 January 2026; she was not asked for a statement until March, police requests to X went unanswered, and the case was closed (in May, per The Observer) with the force saying no suspect could be identified.","causal_attribution":"TBIJ's account from messages it saw and the presenter; South Wales Police's statement confirms an investigation and no identified suspect but does not address the X requests."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'about 300 images and videos of her posted during the Grok scandal'; 'the last of which was dealt with by the Metropolitan Police'; 'She reported several anonymous posts to the police'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'after exploring all viable lines of enquiry, no suspect could be identified'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The broadcaster estimates about 300 Grok-made images and videos of her were posted during the wave, including by the account that targeted the presenter; she reported several, one involving Jeffrey Epstein to the Metropolitan Police, which said no suspect could be identified.","causal_attribution":"The broadcaster's estimate and the Met's statement, both via the TBIJ/Observer investigation."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'is now in pre-action legal correspondence with xAI, part of SpaceXAI, alleging misuse of her private information'; 'It has not been possible, in the time available, to look into any communications with South Wales Police'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'is now in pre-action legal correspondence with SpacexAI'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The presenter is in pre-action legal correspondence with xAI (SpaceXAI) alleging misuse of private information and breaches of data-protection law and the Equality Act; the company said it had not been possible in the time available to look into its communications with South Wales Police.","causal_attribution":"Reported from the correspondence described by TBIJ and the presenter's lawyer; no claim has been filed."}],"effects":[{"label":"a sexualised image of her generated by Grok from her profile photo at an anonymous user's request and posted on X","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"about 300 Grok-made images and videos of her posted to humiliate her","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"police investigations closed with no suspect identified after X did not answer information requests","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026-09-29/grok-deepfakes-police-justice","kind":"investigative_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live in English on 2026-09-30 (TBIJ, 29 September 2026, by Lydia Morrish); the original investigation, with police and company statements.","independence_group":"tbij-observer-investigation"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-women-taking-on-the-tech-giants-over-deepfakes-and-digital-abuse","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live in English on 2026-09-30 (The Observer, 29 September 2026, same reporter, published in partnership with TBIJ); adds the May closure date.","independence_group":"tbij-observer-investigation"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98p4214577o","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live in English on 2026-09-30 (BBC Wales, 13 January 2026, updated 14 January); interview with the presenter during the wave.","independence_group":"bbc-wales-january-2026"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["privacy","justice","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Who requested the images and where they were located.","Whether X answered any later police request.","Whether the presenter files a claim and its outcome.","Dates of the individual images and videos of the broadcaster; The Observer places them 'during the Grok scandal over Christmas', so the series may have begun in late December 2025, before the presenter's dated 2 January 2026 report."],"geography":{"basis":"The presenter reported to South Wales Police and is described by TBIJ in her bedroom in Wales; the broadcaster reported to the Metropolitan Police (TBIJ). The images were generated on X at the request of anonymous accounts whose locations are not established (TBIJ says some accounts in the cases it examined were clearly UK-based), so no event country is recorded. No court proceeding yet.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["GB"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a core case (Grok-generated sexualised images of two adult public figures, requested by anonymous users, with police investigations closed without a suspect). Both women spoke on the record to TBIJ and The Observer; the presenter also to BBC Wales in January 2026. The images are not reproduced or described beyond the sources' wording.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"TBIJ inspected the X account and posts that requested the images and describes Grok's automatic public reply; The presenter described the image to TBIJ and, in January 2026, to BBC Wales; South Wales Police and the Metropolitan Police confirm investigations into the reports. Grok's role in generating and posting the images is not disputed by any party quoted; xAI did not respond to TBIJ.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"UK: Grok-made sexualised images of a Welsh presenter and campaigner against deepfake abuse and of a commentator and broadcaster, requested by anonymous X accounts around New Year 2026; South Wales Police and the Metropolitan Police closed their investigations without identifying a suspect after X did not answer information requests; the presenter is in pre-action correspondence with xAI","summary":"The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and The Observer reported on 29 September 2026 that police investigations into sexualised images generated by X's chatbot Grok had failed to identify anyone. A Welsh presenter and campaigner against deepfake abuse, who had criticised Grok publicly on New Year's Eve 2025, saw an anonymous X user ask '@grok' to put her in a bikini made of cling film; Grok generated the image from her profile photo and posted it. She reported it to South Wales Police on 2 January 2026, was not asked for a statement until March, and was told officers had not heard back from X; the case was closed (in May, per The Observer) with the force saying no suspect could be identified. The same account also targeted a commentator and broadcaster, who estimates about 300 Grok images and videos of her were posted during the wave, including one alongside Jeffrey Epstein reported to the Metropolitan Police, which likewise said no suspect could be identified. The presenter is now in pre-action legal correspondence with xAI (part of SpaceXAI) alleging misuse of private information and breaches of data-protection law and the Equality Act; the company told her lawyers it had not been possible in the time available to look into its communications with South Wales Police. BBC Wales had reported in January 2026 that explicit images of the presenter were created with the chatbot and shared without her consent.","incidentDate":"2026-01-02","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-01-13","aiSystem":"Grok (xAI) image generation on X, responding to public '@grok' requests by editing the targeted women's photographs and posting the results","aiProduct":"Grok","aiCompany":"xAI (SpaceXAI)","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Two women, a presenter and campaigner and a broadcaster, had sexualised images of themselves generated by Grok at anonymous users' request and posted on X; the presenter calls the experience terrifying and her lawyers say the company's failure to help the police aggravated her distress; the broadcaster says the images were designed to humiliate her; both police investigations closed without a suspect after X did not answer requests (TBIJ; The Observer; BBC Wales).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":2,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"Two depicted people, a presenter and campaigner and a commentator and broadcaster (TBIJ; The Observer). The MP also interviewed by TBIJ is counted in her own case (2026-asato-v-xai-grok). Exact 2.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"GB","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026-09-29/grok-deepfakes-police-justice","primarySourceLabel":"The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 29 September 2026: Failed by the police, Grok deepfake victims are seeking justice themselves","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T04:13:49.631225+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T04:13:49.631225+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["grok","xai","x-twitter","deepfakes","non-consensual-intimate-images","ai-generated-images","police","south-wales-police","metropolitan-police","ofcom","uk","depicted-or-impersonated"]}]}