Has Coinbase had a publicly reported AI incident?
Yes. As of Oct 21, 2026, the register holds 1 publicly reported AI incident at Coinbase since January 2022. The most recent is "Coinbase sued under Illinois BIPA over face-scan identity verification" (May 1, 2023), status: court filing, severity 1 of 5. Last swept Oct 21, 2026 (15 queries).
| Date | Institution | Incident | AI? | Role | Category | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 2023 | Coinbase | Coinbase sued under Illinois BIPA over face-scan identity verification | ML (inferred) | Governance finding | Litigation | 1 | Court filing |
May 1, 2023 · Governance finding · severity 1/5
Coinbase sued under Illinois BIPA over face-scan identity verification
Coinbase has faced two proposed class actions alleging that the facial recognition in its identity checks breaks Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). The first, filed on 1 May 2023 in the Northern District of California, claimed Coinbase collected and stored face geometry and fingerprints without the required written consent. It was stayed for arbitration and dismissed in February 2025. A second suit, filed on 13 May 2025 in the Northern District of Illinois, alleges that Coinbase refused to pay fees in more than 10,000 arbitrations and shared face scans with vendors including Jumio and Onfido without consent. Coinbase argues that BIPA's exemption for financial institutions applies to it. The second case was stayed in August 2025 and remains open.
Entries come from the register of AI incidents at banks: events since January 2022, each sourced to two independent publishers or one official or court document, with the institution's response recorded. A sweep searches news, regulator, court and security sources for the institution by name; its date, query count and result are logged on the register's method section.
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