Cases
The first series of The Witnessed Sentence: six automated systems used by governments and companies on large populations, from fixed rules to machine learning. Each case page tells what the system did, what happened, and what the record shows, next to details of its two images. How to read the images.
SyRIS-001 · Netherlands · 2014–2020A Dutch system that scored residents of poor neighbourhoods for welfare fraud. Stopped by a court in 2020 for violating the right to private life.Fixed rulesHalted by court, 5 February 2020. Records persistence unresolved.
ToeslagenaffaireS-004 · Netherlands · 2004–2020 (enforcement peak 2013–2019)Tens of thousands of families wrongly accused of benefit fraud, with nationality used as a risk factor. The Dutch government resigned over it in 2021.Risk classification modelRepair programme ongoing; remedy documented as insufficient.
Optum Impact ProS-005 · United States (commercial; industry-wide class) · 2013–A hospital algorithm that ranked Black patients as healthier than they were, so fewer received extra care. None of the patients were ever told.Machine learning (AI)Correction announced 2020, not verified across deployment. Product still marketed.
CAF / CNAF scoringS-007 · France · 2010–Every recipient of French family benefits gets a risk score. Single mothers and the poorest are checked most often. The case is before the Conseil d'État.Statistical modelActive. Challenge pending before the Conseil d'État.
SCHUFA credit scoreS-008 · Germany (EU-wide case law) · 1927–A private company scores nine in ten German adults. Landlords, banks and phone companies rely on it. The EU's top court ruled on it in 2023.Statistical modelActive. Legal framework changed by the EU Court of Justice in 2023; new score introduced March 2026.
RobodebtS-009 · Australia · 2016–2019A spreadsheet formula turned income averages into debts and sent them to 433,000 people. A Royal Commission found it unlawful from the start.Fixed rulesScheme ended; settlement 2021; Royal Commission 2023; anti-corruption findings 2026.