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.
At least one matching recordNo matching recordSelected country
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.
Contributor with unpaid earnings from April to August 2024 asking for a payout link
A contributor says they worked for the platform between April and August 2024 and have not received payment for that period. They ask the platform to provide a link to connect a new payout account. The platform replied the same day that it would ask a team member to reach out. The amount is not stated.
Contributor with unpaid earnings from several projects and no login to submit invoices
A contributor says they worked on several projects last year and still have unpaid earnings. They say the platform told them there was a problem with their payout account, which has since been resolved, but they can no longer log in to submit their invoices. The platform replied the same day that someone would be in touch. The amount is not stated.
Contributor’s 700 dollar dataset payment held after account discontinued
A contributor says they submitted a dataset for a collection project and were told a 700 dollar payment had been sent. They say it never arrived, that the platform held the funds after discontinuing their account, and that they had no reply since 10 May 2024. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
Crowd worker experiences extreme undercompensation on tasking platform
A crowd worker spent over a year working up to 15 hours daily on a tasking platform. Despite the extensive and intense labor, they received less than $100 in total compensation for the entire year.
Crowd worker undergoes unpaid labor on tasking platform
A crowd worker spent six days working 12 to 18 hours daily on a tasking platform under the guidance of an instructor. After submitting the tasks, the platform flagged 15 errors and did not pay him for his work, resulting in a total loss of his time and effort.
DataAnnotation.tech Contributor Account Deactivated and Wages Withheld
An educator working as an AI trainer on a data annotation platform had their account deactivated without explanation or warning. As a result of this sudden deactivation, the platform withheld $2,869 in completed work and did not respond to the worker's support inquiries.
First-Grade Student Experiences Nightmares After Viewing Frightening YouTube Videos on School Tablet
A first-grade student was shown frightening horror-themed videos on YouTube during free choice time in class on a school-issued tablet. As a result of watching the videos, the child developed persistent nightmares, prompting their parent to intervene with the school administration.
Freelancer refused payment for 2024 project invoices, later helped to relink payout account
A freelancer says the project team delayed updating invoices on a project last year, and that after the platform moved to a new system it refused to pay their pending invoice and told them to fix their payout account. They say that is done and they need a link to reattach it. The platform replied on 25 April that someone would reach out, and on 28 April the complainant said it had helped them link the account and promised payment by 30 April.
A freelancer who worked for the platform for several months says their account was abruptly suspended and that they were not paid for the final project they completed. They ask for payment for the work done before the suspension and an explanation of the suspension. The amount is not stated. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
Freelancer told they would not be paid for a 2024 project after invoice delays
A freelancer says the project team delayed updating the invoice section on a project last year, so they could not submit their invoice, and that they were later told they would not be paid and should fix their payout account. They say the payout account problem is solved and they need access to reconnect it and submit the invoice. The platform replied on 25 April that someone would reach out, and BBB lists the complaint as Resolved after the complainant said that response was satisfactory.
Freelancer unpaid six weeks after November work, emails ignored
A freelancer says they worked on 8 November with payment due the following week, and about six weeks later their emails are ignored and no payment has been made. The amount is not stated. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
Freelancer’s 28 completed tasks unpaid for over a month
A freelancer working since 2020 says 28 tasks have gone unpaid for over a month and that the assigned quality managers do not respond. They describe the work as their only income. The amount is not stated. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
Freelancer’s account shut down with platform threatening to hold earnings
A self-employed worker whose client uses the platform says the platform shut down their account with no specific reason and threatened to hold the money they had earned. They ask for the funds to be released and for an explanation, and say it is their main source of income. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
Freelancer’s earnings held for six months by payment platform
A graphic designer who earns through freelancing says a payment platform held his money for 180 days. He says he almost lost all his freelancing earnings and felt mentally drained. He then moved to a different payment platform.
Long-time contractor unpaid 250 dollars for a May 2024 project plus older invoices
A contractor of several years says they have not been paid 250 dollars for a project completed in May 2024, and that unpaid funds remain in past invoices as well. They say they emailed from the summer and filed tickets on 16 September, 15 October and 8 November without a useful response. The platform replied on 30 December that it had escalated the matter and that a response might not come until after the holidays, and in January the complainant said later emails still went unanswered; BBB lists the complaint as Unresolved.
Outlier.ai Contributor Suspended and Denied Earnings
A contributor on an AI training platform had their account suspended in November 2024 for alleged guideline violations, which they denied. Following the suspension, the platform refused to release $525 in earnings owed to the contributor for completed services and left their support inquiries unanswered.
Rating worker flagged for spam with pay withheld and slow support
A worker says they were flagged for spam on every review in a rating job without warning or explanation, and that their pay was withheld. They say they were not told which standard they broke and that support replies are slow and unhelpful. The complaint text is cut off and no amount is stated. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
Recruited worker unpaid for hours then removed from communication
A worker recruited through LinkedIn says they were paid 0.29 dollars at first, received a reduced incentive payment, and were not paid for about 9.33 hours at 54 dollars an hour. They say an automated Slack message then removed them from communication. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
Remote worker faces unauthorized PayPal withdrawal attempt and unpaid wages after sudden platform ban
A remote worker was permanently suspended without explanation from an AI training platform where they had worked for two months. Following the suspension, the platform attempted to withdraw approximately $2,000 from the worker's connected payment account, which the worker had to dispute through their financial provider to recover. Additionally, the platform withheld payment for the worker's final completed tasks.
Remote worker misled into paying for third-party subscription with minimal compensation
An applicant was prompted by a remote work platform to purchase a paid subscription to a third-party generative AI service under the promise of accessing more tasks. Despite purchasing the subscription, they were never assigned any jobs and were compensated only three dollars after completing eight hours of testing.
Student Accesses Pornographic YouTube Content on School-Issued Tablet
A parent discovered that their young son, a school student, had accessed and watched pornographic content on YouTube using his school-issued tablet. The exposure to adult content occurred due to a lack of restrictions on the school device, causing significant parental distress.
Student Experiences Invasive Privacy and Device Restrictions From School-Mandated Mobile Device Management
A student at an Apple Distinguished School reported that their school requires students to enroll their personally owned iPads in the school's device management system. The student argued that fully managing personal devices is problematic and, in their jurisdiction, may even be legally questionable because it can make the device appear to Apple as school-owned property. They explained that the arrangement created concerns about restrictions and future removal of the management profile, particularly if the IT department lacks expertise. The student contrasted this with a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) management approach, which allows schools to provide educational apps and content without taking full control of the device and can be removed by the user at any time.
Student Locked Out of Own iPad by Leftover School Management Profile
An individual purchased a used iPad and discovered it was locked and restricted under a school's mobile device management system. The buyer was unable to use the device normally and had to contact the school's IT department in an attempt to have the restriction removed.
Student suspended after monitored social media post
A student was reportedly suspended after a personal Instagram post containing alcohol in the background was detected or acted upon through monitoring practices.
Suspended worker’s final pay of about 400 dollars withheld for months
A worker says the platform suspended them for a terms violation with no explanation and withheld final pay for over 20 hours of work, close to 400 dollars, because they could not reach their payout screen. They say they followed up for months demanding payment or an explanation and received nothing. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
Suspended worker’s pending payments for completed tasks frozen
A worker says the platform suspended their account for a terms violation without warning or explanation and froze their pending payments for completed tasks. They ask for an explanation and for release of the payments. The text has unfilled placeholders, such as the date and membership length, and reads like a template letter; the amount is not stated. BBB lists the complaint as Unanswered by the business.
Teacher Coerced by Administrator to Hand Over Personal Phone for App Installation
A teacher was forced by their school's vice principal to hand over their personal mobile phone to have a mandatory school emergency application installed. This occurred after the school district mandated that staff members install the tracking app on their personal devices.
Teacher Experiences Administrative Backlash After Questioning Mandatory Personal Phone App Installation
A public school teacher was instructed by school administration during a faculty meeting to download a student tracking and attendance application on their personal mobile device for use in emergencies. After voicing concerns about the requirement to use personal property for school duties, the teacher faced professional backlash and received demanding follow-up emails from school administration.
An adult man reported being unable to access or dispose of his funds on a digital wallet platform for three weeks due to changing security measures. Despite sending over ten emails to the platform's customer support, his issue remained unresolved, leaving him unable to access his money.
Worker banned with over 200 dollars held and no usable payout method
A worker says they completed over 200 dollars of work and that the funds are still held in their account after it was permanently banned. They say the payout method the platform offers is unavailable to them because of that ban, and that repeated requests for an alternate method went unanswered. They report the issue has lasted several weeks.
A reviewer says their access was cut off without notice and the account was deactivated by an automated flag. They say 127.65 dollars for about 17 hours of tracked work is being withheld. BBB shows no company response to the review.
Worker deactivated with 5,576.25 dollars of pay pending approval
A contractor active since May 2026 says the platform deactivated their account as unavailable for new projects, citing work below a quality bar or a terms violation, with no specific violation identified. They report 5,576.25 dollars of earnings marked pending approval for submitted work that they cannot get reviewed because they are locked out, and no response from support. They withdrew 80 dollars that had reached available status.
Each 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.
Using the directory
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.
How to cite
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.
Corrections and removals
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.
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The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
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