Defense lawyers question the accuracy and reliability of Cybercheck, an AI tool used in thousands of US cases to identify suspects' locations and other details
Cybercheck's founder has said the software tops 90% accuracy. Defense lawyers have said he lied under oath about his expertise … Threads: @lllafalce , @hashimwarren , and @lavishtantrums . Mastodon: @Wolven@ourislandgeorgia.net X: @timstelloh and @eff . Forums: r/boulder Threads: Linda Werrell LaFalce / @lllafalce : https://www.nbcnews.com/... No peer review of the software's effectiveness. Lying under oath about several things. Any convictions obtained using it as evidence should be overturned. Software used to convict people of crimes needs to be thoroughly vetted before use. Hashim Warren / @hashimwarren : This is what criminal justice looks like now? An AI, Cybercheck can place you at the scene of a crime, but the vendor won't give you the data it crawled and processed, or the methodology? Christine Brandt / @lavishtantrums : One of the most chilling stories in the country. Cybercheck, an AI tool used to pin down location and electronic activity in criminal cases is facing legal challenges after the company's founder is alleged to have lied under oath about his expertise and made false claims about when & where the technology has been used. … Mastodon: @Wolven@ourislandgeorgia.net : This cannot be restated enough. Predictive policing algorithms, facial recognition systems, and other carceral tools are, like all under-the-streetlamp key searches and broken windows policing methods, tautologies, self fulfilling prophecies, definitionally limiting justifications. … X: Tim Stelloh / @timstelloh : scoop! Developer of AI tool used in thousands of criminal cases accused of lying under oath https://www.nbcnews.com/... via @nbcnews @eff : “We're being asked to trust a company to present evidence that could eventually put people in prison” without supporting evidence including transparent methodology, EFF's Bill Budington told @NBCNews. “That goes against the right to due process.” https://www.nbcnews.com/... Forums: r/boulder : Boulder county DA allegedly using dubious AI company to help prosecute cases
Context & Ripple Effects
Cybercheck enters a longer legal-system debate over algorithmic evidence: earlier coverage showed the shortcomings of COMPAS risk assessments and documented predictive tools being used in policing, sentencing, and probation decisions.
What distinguishes this case is the challenge to a tool offered to place people and infer digital activity in criminal cases. Allegations about the vendor's claims and the absence of peer review turn AI assurance into a due-process question, not simply a procurement issue.
First-order effects
- Defense teams in cases involving Cybercheck have a clearer basis to seek disclosure of its methodology, underlying data, and the founder's qualifications, while contesting the weight or admissibility of its outputs.
- Prosecutors and agencies that relied on the tool face potential scrutiny of pending cases and requests to revisit convictions where its analysis was material.
Second-order effects
- Other police-facing AI vendors may face increased demands for independent validation, reproducible results, and documentation before their outputs can be used as investigative or courtroom evidence.
- Courts and prosecutors may distinguish more sharply between a lead-generating tool and proof offered to establish location or conduct, raising the cost of deploying opaque analytics in cases.
Third-order effects
- If challenges like this persist, public-safety AI procurement is likely to shift toward auditable systems with validation records that can withstand adversarial review, rather than vendor accuracy assertions alone.
- The broader pressure is for procedural safeguards around algorithmic evidence: transparency and contestability may become as consequential as model performance when liberty is at stake.
The trend: AI used in criminal justice is moving from operational adoption toward a legitimacy test centered on validation, disclosure, and defendants' ability to challenge automated claims.