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R-2579 · registry record · verified 2026-10-10

Google's image scanning reports parents for medical photos

Automated CSAM image scanning falsely flagged parents' medical photos of their children, Google, San Francisco and Houston, United States, 2021–2022

Where
California; Texas, United States
When
2021–2022
System
Google automated child-abuse imagery detection
Type of system
Machine learning (AI) classifier
Used by
Google
Domain
Content moderation
Who was affected
Individuals
People affected
2
People named
Not identified
Brought to light by
Journalism, 2022-08-21
Remedy
None

Summary

In February 2021 Google's automated scanning flagged photos two fathers in San Francisco and Houston had taken of their young children's genital infections at medical professionals' request. Google reported both to authorities and disabled their accounts. Police in both cities cleared the fathers, but Google refused to restore one father's accounts or data even after police found no crime. The New York Times reported the cases.

Sources

  1. Google’s Scans of Private Photos Led to False Accusations of Child AbuseElectronic Frontier Foundation · Originating report
  2. A Dad Took Photos of His Naked Toddler for the Doctor. Google Flagged Him as a Criminal. (AIID report 1940, Incident 303)AI Incident Database (indexing The New York Times)

Tags

Record

First collected
2026-04-21
Last verified
2026-10-10
Verified by
Checked by the author against the sources

Cite this record

The Witnessed Sentence (2026). R-2579: Google's image scanning reports parents for medical photos. Registry record, verified 2026-10-10. https://witnessedsentence.org/registry/r-2579/

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