{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-02T16:36:26.262Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"email","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"","evidence":"","year":"","response":"lawsuit","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":3,"coverage":{"cases":3,"countries":1,"languages":1,"unknownLocation":0,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":0,"lawsuits":3,"regulatory":0,"minors":1,"coreRelations":1,"contextualRelations":2,"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":"2024-york-county-sc-flock-alpr-misread-plate-gunpoint-stop-melvin-lawsuit","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'was stopped by a York County sheriff’s deputy on Feb. 14, 2024, while pulling into his apartment complex near Lake Wylie.'; 'received an alert from a Flock license plate reader that a stolen, dark-colored BMW sedan was traveling in the area, according to the filing.'; 'ordering him to kneel on the ground with his hands over his head for over five minutes, the filing said.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'approached Melvin with his firearm drawn and ordered him out of the car, according to the lawsuit.'; 'remained there for roughly five minutes while deputies checked his information.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'ordered him out of his car at gunpoint.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"According to the lawsuit, on 14 February 2024 a York County deputy who had received a Flock license-plate-reader alert for a stolen dark-coloured BMW approached Melvin's black BMW with his gun drawn as Melvin pulled into his apartment complex near Lake Wylie, and made him kneel with his hands over his head for more than five minutes until deputies established that the car was not stolen.","causal_attribution":"The plaintiff's lawsuit as reported; the Post and Courier says he was handcuffed, the Herald and Military.com describe him kneeling. The complaint itself was not read."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The Flock camera incorrectly identified the first letter of the license plate.'; 'tinted license plate cover was illegal, and obscured the camera, according to the filing.'; 'correctly identified Melvin’s plate 13 times that month prior to the traffic stop, according to the filing.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The stop resulted from erroneous information associated with a Flock alert,'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The Flock camera misread the first letter of Melvin's South Carolina plate; the sheriff's office blamed an illegal tinted plate cover and its internal-affairs report says the stop resulted from erroneous information associated with a Flock alert, while an internal email cited in the filing says the cameras had read his plate correctly 13 times that month.","causal_attribution":"Filing and internal records as reported; the sheriff's office and the plaintiff disagree about why the plate was misread."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'said he suffered trauma and “emotional distress” because of the traffic stop.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'feared for his life and reasonably believed he could be shot.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Melvin says he suffered trauma and emotional distress and feared he could be shot.","causal_attribution":"Plaintiff's own account in the complaint."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'NOTICE OF REMOVAL from York County Court of Common Pleas, case number 2026CP4602329.'; 'Melvin v. York County Sheriff's Office, 0:26-cv-03474'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"The defendants removed Melvin's suit from the York County Court of Common Pleas (case 2026CP4602329) to the US District Court for the District of South Carolina, where it is docketed as Melvin v. York County Sheriff's Office, 0:26-cv-03474.","causal_attribution":"Docket entry."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'The York County Sheriff’s Office denies violating Melvin’s rights and has asked a federal judge to dismiss the case.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'The sheriff’s office found in November 2024 that'; 'actions were “reasonable” after Melvin filed an internal affairs complaint against them.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The sheriff's office denies violating Melvin's rights and has asked the federal court to dismiss the case; a November 2024 internal-affairs review found the deputy's actions reasonable.","causal_attribution":"Defendants' position as reported; no dismissal motion appears among the docket entries read (through 8 September 2026)."}],"effects":[{"label":"held at gunpoint and made to kneel for more than five minutes after a misread license-plate-reader alert flagged his car as stolen","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"says the stop caused him trauma and emotional distress","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/crime/article316428323.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read on 2026-09-28 from the Internet Archive capture of 25 September 2026 (The Herald, Rock Hill, 9 July 2026); the live site timed out. Reports from the lawsuit and attached documents; includes a Flock statement.","independence_group":"melvin-lawsuit-filings"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.postandcourier.com/york-county/news/flock-license-plate-readers-york-county-cameras/article_21d1fac9-69b0-4706-93ab-f0e43c0ede6e.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-28 (Post and Courier, 19 August 2026). Draws on the lawsuit and quotes the internal-affairs report; does not name the plaintiff.","independence_group":"melvin-lawsuit-filings"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.military.com/iraq-war-veteran-says-flock-camera-error-led-to-police-gunpoint-stop","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-28 (Military.com, 16 September 2026). Relays the lawsuit and the Herald's reporting on the dismissal request.","independence_group":"melvin-lawsuit-filings"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74652791/melvin-v-york-county-sheriffs-office/","kind":"court_docket","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read live on 2026-09-28: CourtListener docket for Melvin v. York County Sheriff's Office, 0:26-cv-03474 (D.S.C.); entries through 8 September 2026. No filed documents were available to read.","independence_group":"dsc-docket-0-26-cv-03474"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["justice"],"unknowns":["Whether Melvin was handcuffed as well as held kneeling (the Post and Courier and the Herald differ).","Whether the misread was caused by the tinted plate cover, the camera or both, and why the alert was not visually confirmed before the weapon was drawn.","The outcome of the dismissal request and of the suit."],"geography":{"basis":"The stop took place at Melvin's apartment complex near Lake Wylie, York County, South Carolina (Herald); the suit was filed in the York County Court of Common Pleas and removed to the US District Court for the District of South Carolina (docket).","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a contextual case consistent with the existing Flock rows: an automated plate reader misread a man's plate and flagged his car as stolen, and deputies held him at gunpoint. The account rests on his lawsuit and the sheriff's own records as reported, with the federal docket confirming the case. He is named as the plaintiff in his own suit.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-28"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"According to the filing reported by the Herald, the deputy acted on a Flock license-plate-reader alert for a stolen BMW; the camera misread the first letter of Melvin's plate, and the sheriff's internal-affairs report says the stop 'resulted from erroneous information associated with a Flock alert' (Post and Courier). The misread plate matched against a hotlist is the automated system's claim about his car. The sheriff's office attributes the misread to an illegal tinted plate cover; an internal email says the cameras had read his plate correctly 13 times that month. The decision to draw a weapon was the deputy's.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["made_claim_about"]},"name":"York County, South Carolina: Iraq War veteran Steven Melvin says deputies held him at gunpoint and made him kneel for more than five minutes outside his Lake Wylie apartment complex in February 2024 after a Flock license-plate reader misread his plate and flagged his BMW as stolen; he sued in June 2026","summary":"According to a lawsuit filed on 29 June 2026 and reported by The Herald (Rock Hill), a York County sheriff's deputy stopped Steven Melvin, 42, on 14 February 2024 as he pulled into his apartment complex near Lake Wylie, after receiving a Flock license-plate-reader alert that a stolen dark-coloured BMW sedan was in the area. The deputy approached Melvin's black BMW with his gun drawn and aimed at him and made him kneel with his hands over his head for more than five minutes; after calling for backup and checking his information, the deputy determined the car was not stolen. The camera had read the first letter of his South Carolina tag incorrectly, matching a stolen BMW one letter off. A sheriff's internal-affairs review in November 2024 found the deputy's actions reasonable and blamed an illegally tinted plate cover, for which Melvin received a verbal warning; an email cited in the filing says the cameras had read his plate correctly 13 times that month. Melvin says the stop caused him trauma and emotional distress. The sheriff's office removed the case to federal court in August 2026 and denies violating his rights.","incidentDate":"2024-02-14","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-07-09","aiSystem":"Flock Safety automated license-plate reader (a camera the Herald describes as AI-enabled) that read passing plates, matched Melvin's misread plate against a stolen-vehicle hotlist record and sent an alert to the deputy","aiProduct":"Flock Safety license plate readers","aiCompany":"Flock Safety","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["loss_of_liberty","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Melvin says he was held at gunpoint and detained kneeling for more than five minutes after a misread Flock alert and suffered trauma and emotional distress (his complaint as reported by the Herald and Military.com); the sheriff's office disputes that the stop was unlawful.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person, Steven Melvin, detained at gunpoint (lawsuit via the Herald, Military.com, Post and Courier). Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US-SC","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.heraldonline.com/news/local/crime/article316428323.html","primarySourceLabel":"The Herald (Rock Hill), 9 July 2026: York man was held at gunpoint over incorrect Flock hit. Sheriff blames illegal tag cover","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-28T03:31:25.729021+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:16:54.634302+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["flock","alpr","license-plate-reader","wrongful-stop","gunpoint","south-carolina","york-county","justice","made-claim-about","lawsuit"]},{"id":"2025-lipps-facial-recognition-wrongful-jailing","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"Surveillance 'showed woman using a fake US army military ID to withdraw tens of thousands'; the 8-count charge list.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Zibolski 'acknowledged that investigators made incorrect assumptions based on the West Fargo Police Department's Clearview AI facial recognition technology'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"Warrant signed 2025-07-01 with nationwide extradition; the chief: the case 'was not solely based on just that one piece'; 'an AI function through the North Dakota State Intelligence Center'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The case began with bank-fraud surveillance of a woman using a fake U.S. Army military ID to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars; an AI facial-recognition identification tied Lipps to that surveillance — recorded by Snopes as the West Fargo Police Department's Clearview AI technology, and by Fargo's chief as 'an AI function through the North Dakota State Intelligence Center... not anything that we own'; a nationwide-extradition warrant was signed on 1 July 2025.","causal_attribution":"The vendor attribution differs between the chains (Clearview per Snopes' reading of the WFPD investigation; the state intelligence center's function per the chief) and is recorded with the discrepancy."},{"id":"c2","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'US marshals arrested Lipps at her Tennessee home while she was babysitting four children... taken away at gunpoint'; 'nearly four months without bail'; bank records 'more than 1,200 miles away in Tennessee'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"PD timeline: TN waiver 10-20; booked Cass Co. 10-30; bank records presented 12-12; dismissal agreed 12-23; released 12-24.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"Dismissal 'without prejudice... Angela remains a person they are investigating'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"U.S. Marshals arrested her at gunpoint at her Tennessee home on 14 July 2025 while she babysat four children; she fought extradition for about three months in a Tennessee jail, was booked into Cass County on 30 October, and was released on 24 December after her bank records showed her more than 1,200 miles away in Tennessee; charges were dismissed without prejudice.","causal_attribution":"The custody timeline is consistent across the Guardian, KVLY's police timeline and Snopes; the dismissal's without-prejudice character comes from KVLY's attorney piece."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"KVLY-obtained email 'showed six Fargo detectives were notified of Lipps' arrest in July — nearly five months before Fargo Police say they knew she was in custody'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"An email obtained by KVLY shows six Fargo detectives were notified of her arrest in July 2025 — nearly five months before the department says it learned she was in custody (5 December).","causal_attribution":"KVLY's own document reporting; the department's stated knowledge date comes from its police timeline."},{"id":"c4","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"The 'incorrect assumptions' concession (Snopes' reading of the 24 March presser).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"The chief's 'not solely based on just that one piece' and the state-center tool description.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"Stefonowicz's April statement on an apology.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Fargo Police Chief Dave Zibolski acknowledged 'incorrect assumptions' linked to the AI identification while insisting the case 'was not solely based on just that one piece'; incoming Chief Stefonowicz said in April that if Ms. Lipps deserves an apology, 'I will absolutely be the first person to reach out'.","causal_attribution":"The concession's exact wording beyond Snopes' paraphrase is unverified; both chiefs' positions are recorded as stated."},{"id":"c5","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"'lost her home, her car and her dog.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Rice: 'pursuing potential civil rights claims, though no lawsuit has been filed'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"She lost her home, her car and her dog; her attorney Eric Rice said he was pursuing potential civil-rights claims, with no lawsuit filed as of 31 March 2026.","causal_attribution":"The losses are from the Guardian's account of her situation; the claim status is the attorney's statement as of 31 March 2026."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Angela Lipps, of Elizabethton, Tennessee, filed the federal lawsuit Tuesday in U.S. District Court in North Dakota against the City of Fargo and Fargo Police Department Detective Lucas Heck'; 'The complaint says Heck failed to disclose that the facial recognition result was actually based on a photo from the suspect's fake ID, not the surveillance footage'; 'The lawsuit brings five claims... Lipps is seeking $10 million in damages'; 'These are allegations contained in a civil complaint. No response has been filed as of this writing.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"On 15 September 2026 Lipps filed a federal civil-rights lawsuit in the District of North Dakota against the City of Fargo and Detective Lucas Heck seeking $10 million, alleging that he relied on a flawed facial-recognition match based on the suspect's fake-ID photo, ignored exculpatory evidence and failed to disclose that such results are only investigative leads; the suit brings five claims and says the department had no facial-recognition policy or training at the time.","causal_attribution":"The filing and its contents are reported by the same station chain (KVLY) that broke the case; the complaint itself was not inspected, so the claim is recorded as reported rather than documented. The InForum report of the same filing answered HTTP 403."}],"effects":[{"label":"five months wrongfully jailed on an AI facial-recognition identification, with lasting losses","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/12/tennessee-grandmother-ai-fraud","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (12 Mar 2026, Marina Dunbar).","independence_group":"guardian"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.valleynewslive.com/2026/03/17/chief-zibolski-ai-was-lead-not-only-evidence-wrongful-jail-allegation/","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (17 Mar 2026, Alix Larsen).","independence_group":"kvly"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.valleynewslive.com/2026/04/01/attorney-discusses-potential-lawsuit-after-tennessee-grandmother-jailed-by-facial-recognition-error/","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (31 Mar 2026, Ethan Kramer).","independence_group":"kvly"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ai-tennessee-woman-jail/","kind":"fact_check","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (19 Jul 2026, updated 22 Jul; rating True). Aggregates the InForum/WDAY originals (blocked, 403); its Clearview attribution reflects that chain.","independence_group":"snopes"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.valleynewslive.com/2026/09/15/tennessee-woman-sues-fargo-ex-detective-over-wrongful-arrest-tied-facial-recognition-error/","kind":"local_tv_news","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2026-09-15T17:39Z; Valley News Live, which first reported the case in March 2026).","independence_group":"kvly"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["institutional_use"],"contexts":["justice"],"unknowns":["The InForum original investigation (the first reporting chain) is blocked (403) and was not read; Snopes' and the Guardian's accounts of it are used instead.","The exact wording of the 'incorrect assumptions' concession beyond Snopes' paraphrase is unverified.","The vendor question — Clearview AI (per Snopes) versus the North Dakota State Intelligence Center's AI function (per the chief) — is unresolved.","The woman in the bank-fraud surveillance (the actual suspect) is not reported as identified; the dismissal without prejudice leaves the investigation open.","Her arrest's bail conditions and the custody conditions are not detailed in the inspected sources.","The federal complaint (filed 15 September 2026) was not inspected and its case number is not given in the inspected report; the InForum account of the filing was blocked (403)."],"geography":{"basis":"Event: arrest at her Tennessee home; jailing in Tennessee and Cass County, North Dakota; the underlying bank fraud in the Fargo/West Fargo area. Affected person: Lipps, Tennessee. Court: the Cass County charges (dismissed), North Dakota.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional automated-decision case (made_decision_about / made_claim_about): an AI facial-recognition identification set five months of wrongful custody in motion, documented by the Guardian, an independent local chain with its own document reporting (KVLY), and a fact-check carrying the blocked original chain. She is named in national coverage; the police chiefs' accounts are preserved as contrary context. Updated 16 September 2026 with the $10 million federal suit filed on 15 September, recorded from the Valley News Live report as a reported claim.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-16"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Snopes records the misidentification as based on the West Fargo PD's Clearview AI technology; Fargo's police chief separately describes 'an AI function through the North Dakota State Intelligence Center' and concedes 'incorrect assumptions' while insisting the case was not solely based on that one piece. The vendor attribution (Clearview vs the state center's function) is recorded with the discrepancy.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["made_decision_about","made_claim_about"]},"name":"Tennessee grandmother Angela Lipps jailed five months on an AI facial-recognition misidentification; charges dismissed after bank records placed her 1,200 miles away","summary":"On 14 July 2025, U.S. Marshals arrested Angela Lipps, a 50-year-old Tennessee grandmother, at gunpoint at her home while she was babysitting four children, on a nationwide-extradition North Dakota warrant: West Fargo police's AI facial-recognition technology had tied her to bank-fraud surveillance of a woman using a fake U.S. Army military ID to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars. She fought extradition for about three months in a Tennessee jail, was booked into Cass County, North Dakota on 30 October 2025 on four counts of unauthorized use of personal identifying information and four counts of theft, and was released on 24 December after her bank records showed her more than 1,200 miles away in Tennessee; charges were dismissed without prejudice. Fargo's police chief acknowledged 'incorrect assumptions' linked to the AI identification; an email obtained by KVLY shows six Fargo detectives were notified of her arrest in July, nearly five months before the department says it knew she was in custody. She lost her home, her car and her dog; her attorneys are pursuing potential civil-rights claims, with no lawsuit filed as of 31 March 2026. On 15 September 2026 she filed a $10 million federal civil-rights suit in the District of North Dakota against the City of Fargo and the detective, alleging he relied on a flawed facial-recognition match and ignored exculpatory evidence.","incidentDate":"2025-07-14","incidentEndDate":"2025-12-24","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"single_interaction","reportedDate":"2026-03-12","aiSystem":"Clearview AI facial recognition (per Snopes' account of the West Fargo PD investigation); described by Fargo's chief as 'an AI function through the North Dakota State Intelligence Center'","aiProduct":"Clearview AI facial recognition (reported)","aiCompany":"Clearview AI (vendor per Snopes); North Dakota State Intelligence Center (per Fargo police chief)","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["legal_harm","loss_of_autonomy","reputational_harm","property_loss","psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Five months jailed on an AI-driven misidentification — arrested at gunpoint while babysitting, held states away from home — ending only when her bank records proved she was 1,200 miles away; she lost her home, car and dog, and the dismissal without prejudice leaves her 'a person they are investigating'.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One documented harmed person: Lipps, the misidentified defendant (three chains; her attorneys' account). The children she was babysitting are recorded in the narrative but not counted as harmed persons (no harm to them is reported).","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"US","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/mar/12/tennessee-grandmother-ai-fraud","primarySourceLabel":"The Guardian (12 Mar 2026, Marina Dunbar) — the arrest, the custody ordeal, the losses","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-15T10:28:13.154947+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:08.693119+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["civil-rights","clearview","facial-recognition","justice","lawsuit","made-claim-about","made-decision-about","north-dakota","tennessee","wrongful-arrest"]},{"id":"2025-doe-v-clothoff-nj","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Complaint caption and preliminary statement; ¶¶260-274, 338-340 (Telegram as nominal defendant).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Docket D.E. 1 (filed 2025-10-16; assigned judges).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"Jane Doe, a minor suing through her parents, filed the complaint on 16 October 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (2:25-cv-16671-ES-JBC, Judge Esther Salas, Magistrate Judge James B. Clark) against AI/Robotics Venture Strategy 3 Ltd. d/b/a ClothOff (BVI), Alaiksandr Babichau and Dasha Babicheva (of Minsk), and Telegram entities as nominal defendants.","causal_attribution":"Established directly by the filing and the docket."},{"id":"c2","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Complaint ¶¶33-40 (the discovery date, the Snapchat-group circulation, the age-14 source photo, the classmate uploader).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"TechCrunch's complaint-based account, including that local authorities declined prosecution.","relation":"context","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"On 20 October 2023 Doe, then 15, learned that ClothOff-generated CSAM of her and 'several other girls in her class' was circulating in a Snapchat group; the source was an ordinary photo of her at age 14 from Instagram, uploaded by a minor classmate; local authorities declined to prosecute.","causal_attribution":"Established as the complaint's contents; they remain the plaintiff's allegations. The prosecution decline is TechCrunch's reading of the complaint, attributed."},{"id":"c3","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Complaint ¶¶1-6, 54-55 (visitors, image rate, watermark, three clicks), ¶¶220-255 (affiliated services), ¶¶695-697 (bots, API).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The complaint describes ClothOff as a purpose-built 'undress' service producing hyper-realistic output 'indistinguishable from real photographs' without a watermark in three clicks, with at least 27 million visitors and about 200,000 images per day, at least ten affiliated services, Telegram bots and an API.","causal_attribution":"Established as the complaint's contents. These are the plaintiff's allegations, not independently audited figures; the historical record's '3 million users' and '15+ affiliated services' were corrected to the complaint's figures."},{"id":"c4","status":"corroborated","evidence":[{"locator":"Guardian passages naming the operators, the fake CEO, Texture Oasis and GGSel/GG Technology; the Almendralejo and Westfield links; '>4m monthly visits'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"Bellingcat's network map and payment-laundering account (G2A/Skinsback/Steam/PayPal/Stripe/Patreon), 23 Feb 2024.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"Reporting before the suit identified the operators: the Guardian's Black Box investigation named Babichau and Babicheva (Minsk), a fake AI 'CEO', the Texture Oasis payment front and GGSel/GG Technology links, and tied ClothOff to the Almendralejo (Spain) and Westfield NJ school incidents; Bellingcat's independent investigation mapped the same network and its payment laundering six days earlier.","causal_attribution":"Two independent investigations six days apart; they overlap on GG Technology/Bondarenko but were conducted separately. The complaint itself relies on the Guardian's reporting (per Yale)."},{"id":"c5","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"Docket entries D.E. 12-20 (24 Jun notice; 29 Jun vacatur; 8 Jul order; 9 Jul motion and exhibits; 3 Aug setting).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The 2026 docket shows continuing service efforts: a Rule 4(m) call for dismissal on 24 June 2026 (service not effected; the pseudonym motion administratively terminated), vacated by Judge Salas on 29 June after the plaintiff showed ongoing foreign-service efforts; an order allowing service by email on 8 July; and a motion for service by publication or email on 9 July, set for decision on 3 August 2026.","causal_attribution":"Established by the docket through the RECAP mirror's end (15 July 2026); nothing later is visible in this review."},{"id":"c6","status":"disputed","evidence":[{"locator":"Yale's account of the removal letters and platform responses (X, Discord, Google, YouTube).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"TechCrunch: the service was 'still available... through a Telegram bot' (12 Jan 2026).","relation":"contradicts","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"X, Discord, Google and YouTube removed ClothOff following the clinics' summer 2025 letters (Yale); the historical claim that Telegram removed the ClothOff bot in October 2025 is contradicted by TechCrunch, which found the service still available through a Telegram bot on 12 January 2026.","causal_attribution":"The platform removals are a party account (Yale); the Telegram-bot status is contradicted by later reporting and recorded as disputed rather than resolved either way."}],"effects":[{"label":"AI-generated CSAM of a minor circulated in her school community; federal suit against the platform","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.njd.585002/gov.uscourts.njd.585002.1.0.pdf","kind":"court_filing","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Complaint PDF (45 pages) fetched and read via pdftotext on 2026-09-15. The filing establishes its own contents; its allegations remain allegations.","independence_group":"court-record"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71665449/doe-v-airobotics-venture-strategy-3-ltd/","kind":"court_docket","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Docket reviewed on 2026-09-15 through D.E. 20 (mirror ends 15 July 2026).","independence_group":"court-record"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://law.yale.edu/yls-today/news/clinics-file-suit-against-website-generates-nonconsensual-nude-images","kind":"party_announcement","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read on 2026-09-15. Party source (the clinics bringing the suit); used for the clinics' role and the X/Discord/Google/YouTube removal letters.","independence_group":"yale"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/29/clothoff-deepfake-ai-pornography-app-names-linked-revealed","kind":"news_investigation","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full on 2026-09-15 (29 Feb 2024, Black Box).","independence_group":"guardian"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://bellingcat.com/news/2024/02/23/behind-a-secretive-global-network-of-non-consensual-deepfake-pornography/","kind":"news_investigation","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full on 2026-09-15 (23 Feb 2024).","independence_group":"bellingcat"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/12/a-new-jersey-lawsuit-shows-how-hard-it-is-to-fight-deepfake-porn/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in full on 2026-09-15 (12 Jan 2026); own interview with co-lead counsel.","independence_group":"techcrunch"},{"id":"s7","url":"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/10/teen-haunted-by-fake-nudes-sues-to-kill-nudify-app-block-telegram-bots/","kind":"news_relaying_wsj","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read on 2026-09-15 (17 Oct 2025). Relays the WSJ report; adds Telegram's ToS statement and the separate suit against the boy.","independence_group":"wsj"},{"id":"s8","url":"https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/teen-sues-maker-of-fake-nude-software-b88f316f","kind":"news_report","access":"unavailable","language":null,"translation_note":"HTTP 401 paywall on 2026-09-15; not read; language not established.","independence_group":"wsj"},{"id":"s9","url":"https://www.nj.com/news/2026/01/this-nj-girl-was-a-victim-of-deepfake-porn-shes-suing-the-app-that-generated-it.html","kind":"news_report","access":"unavailable","language":null,"translation_note":"HTTP 403 on 2026-09-15; not read; language not established.","independence_group":"nj-com"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["education","justice"],"unknowns":["The service-by-publication/email motion's outcome after 3 August 2026 is not visible in the RECAP mirror (ends 15 July 2026); whether default judgment or dismissal followed is unknown.","Whether Doe's school is the Westfield High School of the earlier New Jersey incident is unverified: the complaint names only 'a high school in Union County', and the historical record's 'separate victim from Francesca Mani' is not established by any inspected document. The school is deliberately not inferred or named.","The current availability of the generated images is unknown.","The platforms' and registries' responses to the requested injunctions are not yet reported.","The complaint's platform figures (visitors, image rate) are the plaintiff's allegations and are not independently audited."],"geography":{"basis":"Event: a high school in Union County, New Jersey (complaint; the school is not named and is not inferred). Affected person: the New Jersey minor. Court: U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. The defendants' BVI/Belarus connections are recorded without becoming event or court countries.","court_countries":["US"],"event_countries":["US"],"affected_person_countries":["US"]},"publication":{"basis":"Restored under the 2026-09-15 charter as a harmful-artifact case (depicted_or_impersonated) with the federal complaint as the primary record. The plaintiff is a minor protected by court-ordered pseudonymity; no school, classmate or image description beyond the minimum case facts is reproduced. The complaint's contents are recorded as allegations; operator identity rests on two independent investigations.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-15"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The complaint alleges the images of Doe were generated by ClothOff from her photo; the platform's purpose-built undress function is documented by the complaint and the Guardian/Bellingcat investigations. The allegations remain allegations against the unserved defendants; the platform's existence, function and operator identity are independently investigated.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Doe v. ClothOff (D.N.J.): a New Jersey minor sues the AI 'undressing' platform over generated CSAM","summary":"On 16 October 2025, Jane Doe, a New Jersey minor suing through her parents, filed a federal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey (2:25-cv-16671-ES-JBC) against the operators of ClothOff, an AI 'undressing' service, after ClothOff-generated sexual images of her — created from an ordinary photo of her at 14 — circulated in a Snapchat group when she was 15. The complaint, brought by Yale Law School clinics, alleges the platform was purpose-built to produce hyper-realistic non-consensual intimate imagery and names AI/Robotics Venture Strategy 3 Ltd. (British Virgin Islands), Alaiksandr Babichau and Dasha Babicheva (Minsk), and Telegram as nominal defendant. As of mid-July 2026 the docket shows a continuing effort to serve the foreign defendants by email or publication.","incidentDate":"2023-10-20","incidentEndDate":"2025-10-16","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2025-10-16","aiSystem":"ClothOff (AI undressing service)","aiProduct":"ClothOff","aiCompany":"AI/Robotics Venture Strategy 3 Ltd. d/b/a ClothOff (BVI); operators identified in reporting as based in Minsk, Belarus","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":["minor_exploitation","third_party_harm_facilitation"],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"ClothOff-generated CSAM of a 15-year-old circulated in her school's Snapchat group from an ordinary childhood photo — persistent image-based abuse of a minor that local authorities declined to prosecute, leaving the federal suit as the remedy path.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"established","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"partial","affectedCountEvidence":"One counted depicted person: Jane Doe (complaint). The complaint's 'several other girls in her class' are depicted but unnamed and unquantified, so the total is counted-plus-unquantified (partial). Platform visitor and image-rate figures (27 million visitors, ~200,000 images/day) are not people and are never counted.","victimAgeRange":"minor","jurisdiction":"US-NJ","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"lawsuit_filed","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.njd.585002/gov.uscourts.njd.585002.1.0.pdf","primarySourceLabel":"Federal complaint, D.N.J. 2:25-cv-16671-ES-JBC (45 pages, read via pdftotext)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-05-10T10:35:08.921808+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:01.196687+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["lawsuit","federal","minor","new-jersey","clothoff","deepfake","csam","ncii","yale-law","ongoing"]}]}