FARO stands for Frontline Record of Online Harms. Technology-related harm usually reaches the public one case at a time: a school in one country, a family in another, each easy to treat as an exception. This directory puts those cases side by side to help grassroots actors see where others face the same issues they do, and to help governments and regulators see the bigger picture of the harms occurring. The directory describes what its records contain. It does not measure how often these harms occur, and a country with few records may simply have little published about it.
How to use this directory: Topics are filterable for FARO reports that have already been created based on these incidents. The harms and response patterns shown are those featured there. To see the incidents used in a country-specific report, choose that country under Country report. Pick a pattern or evidence type to see on the map which countries have matching records. Click a country on the map or in the list to see its records below. Use the filter to search for keywords or specific sources.
Shaded countries have at least one record. Choose a pattern to see where it appears.
Shading shows only that a country has at least one record in this directory that matches your selection, and every shaded country looks the same on purpose. It says nothing about how often these harms occur there. Pattern filters only cover records classified so far, and small countries are easy to miss on a map, so use the list as well.
In the list but not drawn on the map: Multiple countries, Not stated.
A reviewer with a 5.0 rating says they lost account access and were permanently deactivated for an alleged guidelines violation with no details. They say about 100 dollars in earnings was withheld and support called the decision final. BBB shows no company response to the review.
View sourceA freelance worker spent hundreds of hours completing over 80 unpaid onboarding processes, training tutorials, and assessment tasks required by an AI training platform. After finishing the extensive training requirements, the projects disappeared entirely from the worker's dashboard, resulting in zero compensation for their labor and causing severe emotional distress due to a lack of communication from the platform.
View sourceA worker on an AI training platform says they usually earned 100 to 200 dollars a week, then reached about 500 dollars in one week and were banned before the payout. They say the platform later emailed to confirm the payment would be withheld. They say they had no violation, VPN or proxy use.
View sourceA worker on an AI training platform has 1,023 dollars blocked in a payment wallet’s identity verification after the platform banned their account. The source relays this as one worker’s report and gives no further detail.
View sourceA contractor says their Outlier account was deactivated by an automated flag and that 127.65 dollars in earnings for about 17 hours of work is being withheld. They report scripted support replies described as final. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
View sourceA contractor says their account was deactivated without a stated reason and that 300 dollars in pending earnings was not processed. No response to their support contacts is described. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
View sourceA contractor says the platform disabled their account for alleged GPT usage although they handwrite their work, and that the platform is now withholding their payouts. The amount is not stated. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
View sourceA contractor says they have unpaid invoices of over 2,000 dollars for completed work on the old platform and were locked out of it before being paid. They now have access only to the new platform, which shows none of their past work or invoices, and several approaches to support brought no resolution. The platform replied that someone would reach out, the complainant answered that no one had, and the platform later said it had emailed the complainant.
View sourceA contractor recruited in February 2024 says that after more than 14 months they have not been fully paid for 82 hours of work plus mission bonuses, which they put at 2,506.52 dollars. They say they received 866.90 dollars for the hours and 345 dollars in bonuses, paid through a payment wallet, and they attach screenshots to support the claim. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
View sourceAn independent contractor says they are owed 3,240 dollars for 18 tasks at 180 dollars each. They say they were removed from all projects of that type on 7 May 2026 after the project was paused, and received no reply to 12 quality questions. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
View sourceA contractor says they passed their language and generalist assessments and logged about 4 hours of work, then were removed from the project under an automated claim of not meeting quality criteria, with no feedback or warning. They say they have not been paid for those 4 hours and ask for full compensation. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
View sourceA contractor says they are owed 2,103.13 dollars for completed work but cannot reach their payment account because the platform has not updated the phone number used to verify their identity. They were told more than two months earlier that the update was in progress, and report several tickets and emails with minimal or no action. The platform replied on 5 May that someone would reach out.
View sourceA contractor says they have not received 2,440.15 dollars for completed work because a name spelling error blocked their tax identity verification and the platform has not reopened the tax compliance portal after correcting it. They say this has lasted over six months and that numerous tickets and escalation requests drew little or no response. The platform replied on 5 May that someone would reach out.
View sourceA contractor hired through a freelance marketplace says the platform sent several emails stating a 10,000 dollar payment had been released to their account, and that it then refused to pay for the work they did on that basis. They say neither company responds, they cannot contact the platform directly, and the marketplace says it does not control payments. They report holding emails and screenshots and ask for the payment or a written explanation. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
View sourceA contractor says they were not paid for Hubstaff-tracked hours from the first two weeks of March, about 160 hours at 41 dollars an hour, after their agreement ended on 25 April. They say they lost support access during the platform's migration to another platform. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
View sourceA contractor says they worked for the platform from April to August 2024 and have not received the corresponding payment. They ask for a link to connect a new payout account. The platform replied that its finance team would reach out with details. The amount is not stated.
View sourceA contractor says they worked from May to September 2024 and have not been paid, that their efforts to contact the platform failed, and that it is not answering emails. They ask for a link to connect a payout account so the invoice can be paid. The platform replied on 14 April that someone would reach out. The amount is not stated.
View sourceA contractor reported being unpaid for their most recent month of work. The contractor attempted to reach the platform's US and Australian offices, finding no working contact numbers and receiving no response. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) lists the complaint as unanswered by the business. The exact amount unpaid was not specified.
View sourceA contractor says they are owed 223.16 dollars that the platform states it processed on 24 June 2026 to a bank account number the contractor had entered with two digits transposed. They first contacted support on 30 June, were told trace information would arrive within 12 weeks, and say that period passed with no trace number and their original ticket closed unresolved. They ask for the trace result or a reissued payment to the corrected account. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
View sourceA contractor says their account was closed or flagged and that pending earnings for approved work were not paid. They ask for an explanation and payment. The amount is not stated. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
View sourceA contractor says they worked from July to August 2024 and are owed about 1,150 dollars, but the platform denied their request to relink a new payout account and instead terminated their account. They say their account information was later erased, their messages to support were ignored, and they ask for reactivation and payment. The platform replied the same day that it would have someone reach out.
View sourceA contributor says they earned 75 dollars in one night on an audio recording task, and the next day an automated system permanently deactivated their account and withheld the earnings under a vague guideline claim. They say they have a passing quality score and a screen recording of the work, and demand release of the 75 dollars. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
View sourceA contributor says they were promised a 400 dollar incentive for finishing a dataset by a new deadline but received only the 300 dollar base pay. They say they have screenshots showing they are entitled to it and that several support tickets drew no response. The platform replied on 5 March that it apologized for the confusion and had escalated the matter to its support team.
View sourceA contributor says that after about 35 hours on a language project the platform removed them without explanation, citing guidelines violations. They say they followed the guidelines and the platform is holding 525 dollars of their pay. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
View sourceA contributor says they worked for 11 months, from 1 July 2023 to 30 May 2024, about 963 hours 40 minutes at 10 dollars an hour, and were never paid because of a problem with their initial payment method, leaving 9,639.74 dollars owed. They say multiple messages to support went unanswered and the platform refused to pay. The platform replied that someone would be in touch, the complainant rejected that on 16 April because no one had contacted them, and on 21 April the platform said it had reached out about the steps required before payment.
View sourceA contributor says a project was paused with no reason after about 35 hours of weekend work, and that the payment has not arrived. They say support repeatedly said it would contact the project lead without any follow-up. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
View sourceA contributor says they worked with the platform from April to August 2024 and have not received payment for their contributions. They ask for a new link to connect an updated payout account. The platform replied the same day that someone would be in touch. The amount is not stated.
View sourceA contributor says they worked for the platform from April to July 2024 and have not received the corresponding payment. They ask for a link to connect a new payout account. The platform replied the same day that someone would reach out. The amount is not stated.
View sourceA contributor says they worked for the platform from January to May 2024 and have not received the corresponding payment. They ask for a link to connect a new payout account. The platform replied the same day that someone would be in touch. The amount is not stated.
View sourceA contributor says they worked for the platform between May and August 2024 and have not received payment for that period. They ask for a link to connect their new payout account. The platform replied on 28 April that someone from its finance team would reach out. The amount is not stated.
View sourceA contributor says they worked on a project from 5 April, submitted time late, and received no payment for it, while being paid for a different project they say they were told they did not qualify for. The platform replied that the account must be reviewed, and the complainant hoped to be paid. The amount is not stated.
View sourceA contributor says they worked on a project from 1 June to 31 August 2024 at 10 dollars an hour, 229 hours 50 minutes in total, and that none of their invoices have been processed or paid, amounting to 2,298.35 dollars. They attach a screenshot of the unpaid invoice dashboard. The platform replied that someone would reach out, the complainant asked for an update, and the platform later said its team had reached out on 13 and 14 May 2025.
View sourceEach record is a short summary of an incident described in a public source or collected through an interview by SHIELD or its partners. Records are reviewed by people before they appear here. Names and identifying details are removed: where a person appears, a role, age band and gender stand in for the name, and dates and places for minors are generalised. Every record links to its original source and shows the date that link was last checked. Records are classified with shared harm categories. The classification is SHIELD's own, so it can differ from how a source describes the incident.
You are welcome to read, link to and quote individual records with credit to FARO. Please do not copy, scrape or republish the dataset in bulk, or use it to train or test automated systems, without written permission. To ask for permission, use the SHIELD contact form. The original sources keep their own rights, and the link on each record leads to them.
SHIELD-APS. Frontline Record of Online Harms (FARO). DIRECTORY-URL. Accessed [date]. To cite a particular selection, use the web address shown after you set the filters.
When you rely on the facts of an incident, cite the original source it links to. When you rely on the classification, the patterns or the country report, cite FARO. Please describe the records as documented incidents and do not present counts or country coverage as how often these harms happen. A country with few records may simply have little published about it.
If a record is wrong, a link no longer works, or you are described in a record and want it changed or removed, use the SHIELD contact form and include the title of the record. We review each request and update or remove the record where the request is justified.
Know of a documented incident that belongs here? Send it through the incident form. A public source, such as a news report, a court or regulator decision, or a research publication, helps us verify it quickly. Submissions without a public source are kept anonymous and are not tied to named products or companies. Please leave out the names of children and of anyone who has not agreed to be named. Submissions are reviewed before anything is published, and sending one does not guarantee a record.
