{ "meta": { "exportedAt": "2026-09-22T15:21:31.073Z", "formatVersion": 2, "selection": { "q": "institutional-use", "system": "", "harm": "", "context": "", "country": "", "role": "", "relation": "contextual", "evidence": "", "year": "", "response": "", "severity": "", "verification": "", "view": "incidents", "sort": "added" }, "totalIncidents": 3, "coverage": { "cases": 3, "countries": 1, "languages": 1, "unknownLocation": 0, "locationPending": 0, "unknownLanguage": 0, "unknownDate": 1, "lawsuits": 1, "regulatory": 0, "minors": 0, "coreRelations": 0, "contextualRelations": 3, "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": "NOPE Incident Tracker", "url": "https://nope.net/incidents", "license": "CC BY 4.0" }, "incidents": [ { "id": "2026-evans-santos-v-draftkings-ai-personalization-gambling-addiction", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "\"EVANS VS DRAFTKINGS INC. ETAL\"; \"Filing Date: Friday , July 24th, 2026\"; \"Case ID: 260702927\"; \"Case 2:26-cv-07168 Document 1-3 Filed 09/16/26\".", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "docketNumber \"2:26-cv-07168\", court \"paed\", dateFiled \"2026-09-16\", \"NOTICE OF REMOVAL by CROWN PA GAMING, INC., DRAFTKINGS INC.\".", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "Christopher Evans filed a product-liability complaint against DraftKings Inc. and Crown PA Gaming in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas on 24 July 2026 (Case ID 260702927); the defendants removed it to the E.D. Pa. on 16 September 2026 as 2:26-cv-07168.", "causal_attribution": "Established by the court record (state docket report and federal removal filing)." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "\"IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CHESTER COUNTY\"; \"29 Jul 2026 03:54 PM\"; \"MICHAEL SANTOS,\"; \"2026-07200-TT\"; \"Case 2:26-cv-07176 Document 1-3 Filed 09/16/26\".", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "docketNumber \"2:26-cv-07176\", court \"paed\", dateFiled \"2026-09-16\", \"NOTICE OF REMOVAL by FANDUEL INC., FLUTTER ENTERTAINMENT, PLC, BETFAIR INTERACTIVE US LLC, FANDUEL GROUP PARENT LLC, FANDUEL PA LLC\".", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s4" } ], "assertion": "Michael Santos filed a complaint against DraftKings, Crown PA Gaming, FanDuel Inc. and FanDuel's affiliates in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas on 29 July 2026 (2026-07200-TT); the FanDuel defendants removed it to the E.D. Pa. on 16 September 2026 as 2:26-cv-07176.", "causal_attribution": "Established by the court record." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "\"He began using the DraftKings applications in or around August 2017\"; \"Plaintiff has wagered over $2,100,000.00 with net losses of approximately $81,000.00\"; \"constantly received targeted promotions, personalized push notifications, and incentives like prop bets and free credits intended to repetitively lure him back into the gambling applications\"; \"also had a VIP account manager, who would send him promotional offers, bonuses, and perks\"; \"He soon began suffering from depression and anxiety and stopped going outside altogether in favor of gambling all day\"; \"creating financial strain that has placed him into debt and resulted in the repossession of his vehicle\"; \"resulted in his wife separating from him\"; \"was formally diagnosed with depression in 2020\".", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" } ], "assertion": "Evans pleads that since about August 2017 he wagered over US$2,100,000 on DraftKings' apps with net losses of about US$81,000, constantly received targeted promotions and personalised push notifications and had a VIP account manager, developed depression and anxiety and was formally diagnosed with depression in 2020, stopped going outside, fell into debt, had his vehicle repossessed and separated from his wife.", "causal_attribution": "Plaintiff's allegations in a pending complaint; untested." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "\"has wagered over $1,164,000.00 with net losses of approximately $58,000.00\"; \"has wagered nearly $7,000 on FanDuel with losses of nearly $1,500\"; \"constantly received targeted advertisements, personalized push notifications, and incentive-based emails from DraftKings intended to repetitively lure him back into the gambling app\"; \"despite Plaintiff expressly stating he did not want to continue gambling\"; \"max out multiple credit cards and accrue debt so significant that it forced him to sell his house\"; \"has received formal diagnoses of depression and anxiety\"; \"drove Plaintiff MICHAEL SANTOS to suicidal ideation\"; \"voluntarily placed himself on a self-exclusion list with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in 2023\".", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "Santos pleads that he wagered over US$1,164,000 on DraftKings with net losses of about US$58,000 and nearly US$7,000 on FanDuel with losses of nearly US$1,500, received targeted advertisements, personalised push notifications and incentive emails, had a VIP manager who kept offering bonus bets after he said he wanted to stop, maxed out multiple credit cards and was forced to sell his house, received diagnoses of depression and anxiety, experienced suicidal ideation, and self-excluded with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in 2023.", "causal_attribution": "Plaintiff's allegations in a pending complaint; untested." }, { "id": "c5", "status": "documented", "evidence": [ { "locator": "\"Defendants utilize the combination of advanced technology and artificial intelligence paired with the tracking of personalized user data to intentionally addict users and continuously lure them back to their sports gambling apps\"; \"data science and machine learning to help optimize conversion\"; \"recommendation engines\"; \"Defendants operate sophisticated AI-powered engagement platforms that, on information and belief, employ the precise personalization mechanisms the study identifies as risk-generating\"; \"Limit or eliminating artificial intelligence to track individual\".", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "\"Defendants utilize the combination of advanced technology and artificial intelligence paired with the tracking of personalized user data to intentionally addict users\"; \"Limiting or eliminating artificial intelligence to track individual\".", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "Both complaints allege that the defendants combine artificial intelligence with tracking of personalised user data to addict users and lure them back, that DraftKings' 10-K discloses machine-learning recommendation engines, and, on information and belief, that the defendants operate AI-powered engagement platforms; both ask the court to limit or eliminate the use of artificial intelligence to track individual users.", "causal_attribution": "The contents of the pleadings are established by the record; the truth of the AI allegations is not." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "two plaintiffs plead gambling addiction, six-figure wagering with net losses of about US$81,000 and US$58,000, debt, family breakdown, depression and suicidal ideation, attributed to AI-driven personalization", "claim_id": "c3", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.paed.662095/gov.uscourts.paed.662095.1.3.pdf", "kind": "court_filing", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-17 and 2026-09-19: Exhibit A to the notice of removal in Evans v. DraftKings Inc., E.D. Pa. 2:26-cv-07168 (47 pages: the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas docket report and the complaint of 24 July 2026), from the CourtListener RECAP archive.", "independence_group": "evans-complaint" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.paed.662118/gov.uscourts.paed.662118.1.3.pdf", "kind": "court_filing", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-19: Exhibit A to the notice of removal in Santos v. DraftKings Inc., E.D. Pa. 2:26-cv-07176 (53 pages: the complaint filed and attested in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas on 29 July 2026), from the CourtListener RECAP archive.", "independence_group": "santos-complaint" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74801358/evans-v-draftkings-inc/", "kind": "court_docket", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Docket metadata read on 2026-09-19 through the CourtListener v4 search API (saved as cl-evans.json): case name, docket number 2:26-cv-07168, court E.D. Pa., filed 2026-09-16, cause 28:1332 diversity product liability, removal notice by Crown PA Gaming and DraftKings.", "independence_group": "courtlistener-evans-docket" }, { "id": "s4", "url": "https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/74803784/santos-v-draftkings-inc/", "kind": "court_docket", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Docket metadata read on 2026-09-19 through the CourtListener v4 search API (saved as cl-santos3.json): docket number 2:26-cv-07176, court E.D. Pa., filed 2026-09-16, removal notice by FanDuel Inc., Flutter Entertainment, Betfair Interactive US, FanDuel Group Parent and FanDuel PA.", "independence_group": "courtlistener-santos-docket" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "own_use", "institutional_use" ], "contexts": [ "finance", "health", "relationships", "justice" ], "unknowns": [ "Whether AI or machine-learning systems, rather than human account managers and conventional marketing, generated the promotions and notifications the plaintiffs describe; the 'AI-powered engagement platforms' allegation is pleaded on information and belief.", "The defendants' responses; no answer, motion or ruling is recorded as of 2026-09-19.", "When Santos began gambling on the apps and his current financial position.", "Whether the plaintiffs also gambled on other operators' products." ], "geography": { "basis": "Both plaintiffs are Pennsylvania residents (Philadelphia; Coatesville, Chester County) per the complaints; suits filed in Pennsylvania state courts and removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.", "court_countries": [ "US" ], "event_countries": [ "US" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a contextual case: two pending complaints, read in full from the court record, allege that an operator's AI-driven personalization and engagement systems fostered gambling addiction with quantified losses, debt, family breakdown, psychiatric diagnoses and suicidal ideation. Filing facts are documented; the harms and the AI involvement are the plaintiffs' allegations and are recorded as such. Plaintiffs are identified only by the public case captions.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-19" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "The complaints allege that the defendants' AI and machine-learning personalization systems tracked the plaintiffs' play and targeted them with promotions and notifications, and quote DraftKings' 10-K on machine-learning recommendation engines; the 'AI-powered engagement platforms' allegation is pleaded on information and belief. Nothing in the record yet establishes that AI systems made the targeting decisions about these two users, so the relation (a system making decisions about the person) is recorded as alleged.", "status": "reported" }, "person_relations": [ "made_decision_about" ] }, "name": "Pennsylvania: two men sued DraftKings (one also FanDuel) alleging that AI-driven personalization, targeted promotions and VIP handling fostered gambling addiction; they plead net losses of about US$81,000 and US$58,000, debt, family breakdown, depression and, in one case, suicidal ideation", "summary": "Christopher Evans (Philadelphia; complaint filed 24 July 2026 in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas) and Michael Santos (Coatesville, Chester County; complaint filed 29 July 2026 in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas) sued DraftKings and its Pennsylvania affiliate; Santos also sued FanDuel and its parents. Both product-liability complaints, filed by the same law firm, allege that the defendants' sports-betting, daily-fantasy and casino apps are designed to addict, and that the companies 'utilize the combination of advanced technology and artificial intelligence paired with the tracking of personalized user data to intentionally addict users', operating 'AI-powered engagement platforms' (pleaded on information and belief) and, per DraftKings' 10-K as quoted, 'data science and machine learning' recommendation engines. Evans pleads that since about August 2017 he wagered over US$2.1 million with net losses of about US$81,000, received constant targeted promotions and personalised push notifications and a VIP account manager, developed depression and anxiety and was formally diagnosed with depression in 2020, stopped going outside, fell into debt, had his vehicle repossessed and separated from his wife. Santos pleads over US$1.164 million wagered on DraftKings with net losses of about US$58,000 plus small FanDuel losses, targeted advertising and a VIP manager who kept offering bonus bets after he said he wanted to stop, maxed-out credit cards, the forced sale of his house, diagnoses of depression and anxiety, suicidal ideation, and self-exclusion with the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board in 2023. Both cases were removed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on 16 September 2026 (2:26-cv-07168 and 2:26-cv-07176). The allegations are untested.", "incidentDate": "2017-08-01", "incidentKind": "ongoing_experience", "incidentDatePrecision": "month", "exposurePattern": "repeated_interactions", "reportedDate": "2026-07-24", "aiSystem": "DraftKings' and FanDuel's sportsbook, daily-fantasy and online-casino apps and their alleged AI and machine-learning personalization, recommendation and engagement systems (as pleaded; the complaints quote DraftKings' 10-K on 'data science and machine learning' and 'recommendation engines')", "aiCompany": "DraftKings Inc. (and Crown PA Gaming); FanDuel Inc. and affiliates (Flutter Entertainment) in the Santos suit", "severity": "high", "verificationStatus": "unverified", "harmCategories": [], "harmOutcomes": [ "financial_loss", "psychiatric_deterioration", "relationship_disruption", "property_loss" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "As pleaded: gambling addiction with net losses of about US$81,000 (Evans) and about US$58,000 plus small FanDuel losses (Santos), debt, a repossessed vehicle and marital separation (Evans), maxed-out credit cards, a forced house sale, diagnosed depression and anxiety and suicidal ideation (Santos), attributed by the plaintiffs to the defendants' AI-driven personalization and engagement design.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "alleged", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 2, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 0, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "Two named plaintiffs, each pleading his own gambling addiction and losses as a user of the apps. Exact count of two; family members mentioned in the complaints are not counted.", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "US", "platformType": "other", "outcomeType": "lawsuit_ongoing", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.paed.662095/gov.uscourts.paed.662095.1.3.pdf", "primarySourceLabel": "Evans v. DraftKings Inc. et al., E.D. Pa. 2:26-cv-07168, Notice of Removal Exhibit A (Philadelphia CCP complaint filed 24 July 2026), via CourtListener RECAP", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-09-20T03:19:52.470392+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "gambling", "sports-betting", "algorithmic-personalization", "engagement-design", "product-liability", "lawsuit", "united-states", "pennsylvania", "draftkings", "fanduel", "institutional-use" ] }, { "id": "2026-san-jose-officer-flock-alpr-data-domestic-violence-accuser", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Chief Joseph: 'The officer accessed license plate reader data and provided that to a suspect in a domestic violence situation, which enabled that suspect to locate a victim'; 'accused of accessing Flock camera data on his personal phone to help a family member last spring'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'the officer used his personal phone to access the Flock camera system and then provided the location of a vehicle to his cousin. The cousin subsequently used the information to track down his accuser, according to our partner the Bay Area News Group.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "A San Jose police officer accessed the department's Flock license-plate-reader data on his personal phone and gave a vehicle's location to a relative who was a suspect in a domestic-violence case, enabling him to locate the woman accusing him.", "causal_attribution": "The chief's public account, carried by NBC Bay Area, and ABC7's report drawing on the Bay Area News Group; the locating of the accuser is the reported consequence." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'we immediately placed this officer on administrative leave. We launched a criminal investigation into his conduct. We referred that investigation to the district attorney's office and we ultimately terminated'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'the officer's case was submitted to the State of California P.O.S.T. for a decertification investigation'; 'Neither the officer nor the cousin has been criminally charged.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "The officer was placed on leave, criminally investigated, referred to the district attorney and fired; the case was submitted to California POST for decertification; neither the officer nor the cousin has been charged.", "causal_attribution": "Departmental actions as announced; charging status per ABC7 on 13 September." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'he has made changes to the policy to ensure the data cannot be accessed on a personal device'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'officers are no longer permitted to access the system on their personal devices'; 'testing new smart auditing tools to flag possible access without a lawful purpose'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "The department barred access to the system from personal devices and is testing auditing tools to flag access without a lawful purpose.", "causal_attribution": "Policy responses as reported by both outlets." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "a domestic-violence accuser was located by the suspect using her vehicle's plate-reader location data passed on by an officer", "claim_id": "c1", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-jose-police-fired-flock-camera/4141719/", "kind": "local_tv_news", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2026-09-11T17:29-07:00; Robert Handa; the chief's on-camera quotes).", "independence_group": "nbc-bay-area" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://abc7news.com/post/san-jose-police-officer-fired-allegedly-sharing-flock-camera-data-suspect-domestic-violence-case-authorities-say/19825592/", "kind": "local_tv_news", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-16 (datePublished 2026-09-13T22:49Z; KGO; cites the Bay Area News Group for the cousin locating his accuser).", "independence_group": "abc7-bang" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "institutional_use" ], "contexts": [ "privacy", "public_services", "relationships" ], "unknowns": [ "The date of the disclosure is given only as 'last spring' by the chief; the incident date is left unknown rather than inferred.", "What happened after the suspect located the victim is not reported; no injury or further offence is described in the inspected sources.", "The officer's and the cousin's identities and the status of the domestic-violence case are not reported in the inspected sources.", "The Bay Area News Group original cited by ABC7 was not inspected." ], "geography": { "basis": "Event: San Jose Police Department's camera network and the locating of the victim, San Jose, California (both reports). The victim's residence is not stated beyond the San Jose case; no court proceeding is reported.", "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "US" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional privacy and safety case: automated license-plate-reader records about a domestic-violence accuser were passed by an officer to the suspect, who used them to find her, as stated publicly by the police chief and reported by two local outlets. The victim, officer and suspect are unnamed in the sources and here; the AI component generated the location record and the misuse is recorded as a human act.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-16" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "The police chief states that the officer accessed the department's Flock automated license-plate-reader data and provided it to the suspect, enabling him to locate the victim; ABC7 describes the system as the Flock camera system accessed on a personal phone. The automated readers generated the vehicle-location record about the victim; the disclosure was a human act.", "status": "supported" }, "person_relations": [ "made_claim_about" ] }, "name": "San Jose: police officer fired after passing Flock license-plate-reader location data to a relative accused of domestic violence, who used it to find his accuser", "summary": "San Jose's police chief announced on 11 September 2026 that an officer had been fired after accessing the department's Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader data on his personal phone and giving a vehicle's location to his cousin, a suspect in a domestic-violence case, who used it to locate the woman accusing him. The chief called it 'a betrayal of the public trust', said the officer was placed on leave, criminally investigated and referred to the district attorney, and that the case was submitted to California's peace-officer standards commission for decertification; neither the officer nor the cousin has been charged. The department has since barred access to the system from personal devices and is testing auditing tools. Neither the victim nor the officer is named in the inspected reports.", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "unknown", "exposurePattern": "unknown", "reportedDate": "2026-09-11", "aiSystem": "Flock Safety automated license plate readers (San Jose Police Department camera network)", "aiCompany": "Flock Safety", "severity": "medium", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [], "harmOutcomes": [ "exploitation_or_abuse" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A woman who had accused a man of domestic violence was located by him after a police officer passed him her vehicle's automated license-plate-reader location data; the inspected reports describe the locating but no further consequence.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 1, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "One person: the domestic-violence accuser whom the suspect located using the data (NBC Bay Area, ABC7).", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "US", "platformType": "other", "outcomeType": "internal_action", "outcomeStatus": "ongoing", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/san-jose-police-fired-flock-camera/4141719/", "primarySourceLabel": "NBC Bay Area, 11 September 2026: the chief's announcement and quotes", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-09-16T03:16:38.30859+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "flock", "alpr", "license-plate-reader", "police", "domestic-violence", "privacy", "san-jose", "california", "institutional-use" ] }, { "id": "2025-washington-il-snapchat-flag-student-teacher-arrest", "caseFacts": { "claims": [ { "id": "c1", "status": "reported", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'The social media site flagged the message and warned the FBI, which then notified the Sheriff's Office'; 'the office had been informed on Jan. 29, 2025, at 1:06 p.m. that the FBI had received a threat via Snapchat involving someone at John A. Hensey School in Washington.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "District email: 'The use of that obviously inappropriate language on the social media site triggered a report to law enforcement who subsequently interviewed the student teacher.'", "relation": "context", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "Snapchat's systems flagged the woman's private group-chat message and warned the FBI, which notified the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office on 29 January 2025 at 1:06 p.m.", "causal_attribution": "One outlet group (Peoria Journal Star) carrying two distinct records (sheriff's reports via FOIA; the district's email). The flagging technology is unspecified; no second independent outlet describes the mechanism, so the claim stays reported." }, { "id": "c2", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'In a chat with her boyfriend and her two roommates, she advised whether she should \"shoot the child or just the whole school?\"' (sheriff's reports).", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'Volpe sent the message to her friends, asking them whether she should \"shoot\" the student.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "The flagged message asked whether she should 'shoot the child or just the whole school' (sheriff's reports' rendering); the district's email and 25News Now report her asking friends whether she should 'shoot' the student.", "causal_attribution": "Wordings differ slightly between the sheriff's reports and the district/25News accounts; both versions are attributed. She confirmed sending the message and said it was a joke." }, { "id": "c3", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "Body-cam account: interview in an empty classroom, Miranda rights, the flagged message shown, consent forms, classroom search finding nothing; 'she would be arrested in Tazewell County'.", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s1" }, { "locator": "'deputies arrested [her] at John L. Hensey Elementary School around 1 p.m. Wednesday. She was booked into the Tazewell County Jail for disorderly conduct.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "Deputies interviewed her at the school, read her Miranda rights, searched her phone and belongings with consent and found no weapons; they arrested her on a disorderly conduct charge and she was booked into the Tazewell County Jail.", "causal_attribution": "The arrest and booking are established by two independent local outlets; the interview detail comes from the FOIA body-cam footage and police reports." }, { "id": "c4", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'Deputies interviewed her and came to the conclusion that she made the comment out of \"exasperation,\" had no intentions to harm anyone, and was not a threat to the school.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" }, { "locator": "District email: 'Law enforcement officers quickly determined that the student teacher made the statement out of exasperation... but did not have any actual intent to shoot anyone or otherwise cause harm.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" } ], "assertion": "The Sheriff's Office and the district concluded the remark was made out of exasperation, with no intent to harm and no threat to the school.", "causal_attribution": "Both the district's letter and the deputies' own conclusion are attributed; no source reports any contrary finding." }, { "id": "c5", "status": "corroborated", "evidence": [ { "locator": "'it said the student teacher would not be returning to District 50 to complete her assignment.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s2" }, { "locator": "Superintendent Chad Allaman's letter: 'Volpe is not returning to the school to finish her educational assignment.'", "relation": "supports", "source_id": "s3" } ], "assertion": "The district told parents she would not return to District 50 to complete her educational assignment.", "causal_attribution": "The district's decision is attributed to its own letter carried by two outlets." } ], "effects": [ { "label": "arrest and loss of a teaching placement after an automated flag escalated a private joke to law enforcement", "claim_id": "c3", "direction": "negative" } ], "sources": [ { "id": "s1", "url": "https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/local/2026/04/10/how-an-fbi-tip-led-to-arrest-of-a-student-teacher-in-washington-illinois/88217675007/", "kind": "news_report_foia_records", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2026-04-10T11:15Z; 34 paragraphs). Based on sheriff's deputy and detective reports plus body-camera footage obtained by FOIA from the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office.", "independence_group": "pjstar" }, { "id": "s2", "url": "https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/education/2025/01/30/washington-il-student-teacher-makes-inappropriate-shooting-comment-district-says/78061557007/", "kind": "news_report", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2025-01-30T23:13Z). Based on the District 50 email to parents; withheld the teacher's name.", "independence_group": "pjstar" }, { "id": "s3", "url": "https://www.25newsnow.com/2025/01/31/exasperated-student-teacher-wont-return-after-allegedly-commenting-about-shooting-student/", "kind": "local_tv_news", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read in English on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2025-01-31T17:07Z). Attributes to deputies and the school district; names the teacher from jail records — the name is deliberately not carried into this public record.", "independence_group": "week-25news" }, { "id": "s4", "url": "https://thoughtcatalog.com/jeremy-london/2026/08/snapchat-scans-your-private-group-chats-and-a-22-year-old-teacher-found-out-when-deputies-showed-up-to-arrest-her-over-a-joke/", "kind": "content_farm_rehash", "access": "read", "language": "en", "translation_note": "Read on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2026-08-02). Two substantive paragraphs, 'reportedly' framing, no place, date or document; derivative of the 2025 local reporting with embellishments. Recorded for provenance; never cited as support.", "independence_group": "thought-catalog" } ], "version": 1, "ai_roles": [ "institutional_use" ], "contexts": [ "education", "work", "justice", "privacy" ], "unknowns": [ "The disposition of the disorderly conduct charge (dismissal, plea, supervision) is not reported in the inspected sources.", "The flagging technology Snapchat used (automated classifiers, hash matching or otherwise) is not specified in the inspected records.", "Whether she continued teacher training elsewhere is not reported.", "The school's name appears as 'John A. Hensey School' (Peoria Journal Star) and 'John L. Hensey Elementary School' (25News Now); the discrepancy is unresolved.", "The exact interval between sending the message and the FBI referral is not stated; content-farm claims of 'within an hour' are unverified." ], "geography": { "basis": "Event: John A. Hensey School, Washington, Illinois (25News Now renders the school name 'John L. Hensey Elementary School'), and the Tazewell County Jail. Affected person: the student teacher at that school. No court proceeding is reported, so court_countries is [].", "court_countries": [], "event_countries": [ "US" ], "affected_person_countries": [ "US" ] }, "publication": { "basis": "Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional-use automated-moderation case: a consequential institutional response (arrest, placement loss) to an automated flag of a private message, documented by FOIA-based local reporting. She is an adult; although local TV named her from jail records, she is not named here because deputies cleared her of intent and republication adds reputational risk without evidential value.", "reviewed_on": "2026-09-15" }, "ai_involvement": { "basis": "Police reports obtained under FOIA state 'the social media site flagged the message and warned the FBI', and the district's email says the language use 'triggered a report to law enforcement'; no human reporter was involved. The flagging technology (automated classifiers or otherwise) is not specified in the inspected records.", "status": "supported" }, "person_relations": [ "made_decision_about", "made_claim_about" ] }, "name": "Washington, Illinois: Snapchat flagged a student teacher's private joke to the FBI; she was arrested at her school and lost her placement", "summary": "On 29 January 2025, a 22-year-old student teacher at a District 50 elementary school in Washington, Illinois, vented in a private Snapchat group chat with her boyfriend and two roommates after a third-grade student turned off her computer mid lesson-plan, asking whether she should 'shoot the child or just the whole school' (per sheriff's reports). Snapchat's systems flagged the message and warned the FBI, which notified the Tazewell County Sheriff's Office at 1:06 p.m. Deputies interviewed her at the school, confirmed she sent it as a joke, searched her phone and belongings with her consent and found no weapons, and arrested her on a disorderly conduct charge; they concluded she had spoken out of 'exasperation' with no intent to harm and no threat to the school. The district told parents she would not return to complete her educational assignment.", "incidentDate": "2025-01-29", "incidentKind": "single_event", "incidentDatePrecision": "day", "exposurePattern": "single_interaction", "reportedDate": "2025-01-30", "aiSystem": "Snapchat automated content-flagging system", "aiCompany": "Snap Inc.", "severity": "medium", "verificationStatus": "credible", "harmCategories": [], "harmOutcomes": [ "legal_harm", "professional_harm" ], "harmOutcomeSummary": "A private joke flagged by an automated system led to an armed-response interview at her workplace, arrest and jail booking on a disorderly conduct charge, and the loss of her student-teaching placement, although deputies and the district concluded she never intended harm.", "frameworkFacets": [], "causationStatus": "supported", "participantUsersAffectedMin": 0, "otherPeopleHarmedMin": 1, "affectedCountStatus": "exact", "affectedCountEvidence": "One documented harmed person: the student teacher, subject to the platform's institutional automated flagging (counted under institutional use, not as an AI user). No student or staff member was aware of the conversation per the district; the referenced third-grade student is not counted as harmed (deputies found no threat and no one else saw the private message).", "victimAgeRange": "adult", "jurisdiction": "US", "platformType": "other", "outcomeType": "criminal_charges", "outcomeStatus": "unknown", "primarySourceUrl": "https://www.pjstar.com/story/news/local/2026/04/10/how-an-fbi-tip-led-to-arrest-of-a-student-teacher-in-washington-illinois/88217675007/", "primarySourceLabel": "Peoria Journal Star (10 Apr 2026) — FOIA-based account: sheriff's reports and body-camera footage", "firstPublishedAt": "2026-09-15T05:24:48.263548+00:00", "scopeVersion": "facts-v3", "tags": [ "privacy", "automated-moderation", "snapchat", "education", "arrest", "institutional-use", "illinois" ] } ] }