{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0778","record_version":1,"title":"Google SynthID Detector flags apparently real images, per Full Fact investigation","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":46.6,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":7.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":3.0,"completeness":3.2,"unhedged_language":5.0},"checks":{"schema_valid":true,"every_field_cited":true,"quotes_verbatim":true,"source_fetched":true,"distinct_incident":true,"dates_plausible":true,"sources_agree":true,"source_describes_incident":true,"severe_backed_by_source":true,"record_integrity":true,"eligible":true,"about_this_case":true},"gate_version":"gate-2026-10-18.7","cross_check_model":null,"cross_check_agreement":null,"duplicate_of":null,"verified_by":null,"verified_at":"2026-11-01","extraction_run_id":null,"evidence_level":{"level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change","original_document":null,"reports_total":1,"reports_independent":0,"reports_derivative":0,"developing":true,"disputed":false,"rules_version":"evidence-2026-10-29.1","computed_at":"2026-11-01","history":[{"date":"2026-11-01","from_level":null,"to_level":"preliminary","reason":"Publisher not yet named · subject to change"}]},"sources_hash":"b3f8975f037df8d89ab8944fcf95d889583f3ef9525e69aa104b4645ccec7dc6"},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"Google","harness":null,"tools_granted":[],"permissions_scope":null,"autonomy_level":"unknown","guardrails_present":[],"deployment_context":"unknown","tier":null,"lifecycle_stage":null,"integration_type":null,"intended_use":"Check whether an image, video or audio file was made or edited with AI using Google, OpenAI, Nvidia or Kakao products","safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":null,"date_disclosed":"2026-10-21","incident_class":"other","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"third_party","summary":"Google’s public SynthID Detector, launched earlier this month, lets logged-in users check whether an image was made or edited with AI. Full Fact, which had used an early media version for fact checking, found it flagging five images shared by politicians as made or edited with AI, although the posters said the images were genuine and unaltered. Full Fact saw no obvious manipulation in them and reported the findings to Google. Google said that using the detector without prior suspicion of AI editing naturally increases occasional false positives. After the findings were shared, Google rolled out an update on 15 October, and the tool now says it is unsure about the five images. Full Fact did not establish how common false positives are and advises that the detector should not be relied on alone.","tags":[],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":null,"root_cause_detail":null,"failure_class_detail":null,"responsible_party":null,"adversarial_actor":null,"input_provenance":null,"time_to_contain":null,"operations_paused":null,"remediation":null,"precursor_events":null},"impact":{"direct_loss_usd":null,"remediation_hours":null,"records_exposed":null,"third_parties_affected_count":null,"severity":"moderate","severity_because":"Test: data or systems of others touched, with a bounded scope stated. Fact: five images shared by politicians were flagged, a bounded set stated in the source.","harm_class":[],"affected_description":"Five images shared by politicians in recent months, flagged by the tool as made or edited with AI although the posters said they were genuine and unaltered","protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://fullfact.org/toolkit/google-synthid-detector-flagging-apparently-real-images/","publisher":"Full Fact","date":"2026-10-21","type":"press","title":"Google updates AI detector after Full Fact investigation finds it flagging apparently real images - Full Fact","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report"}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.intended_use":"C","system.developer":"C","event.detection_method":"C","impact.affected_description":"C","event.incident_class":"D","impact.severity":"D","impact.severity_because":"D","event.summary":"C","system.autonomy_level":"D","system.deployment_context":"D","event.trigger":"D","context.country":"D","event.date_disclosed":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"system.intended_use":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Google’s new public SynthID Detector tool allows anyone logged in to check if an image, video or audio file was made or edited with AI using Google, OpenAI, Nvidia or Kakao products."}],"system.developer":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Google updates AI detector after Full Fact investigation finds it flagging apparently real images"}],"event.detection_method":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"We found five examples of images shared by politicians in recent months which were flagged by the tool—even though those who posted the pictures insist they are genuine and unaltered."}],"impact.affected_description":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"We found five examples of images shared by politicians in recent months which were flagged by the tool—even though those who posted the pictures insist they are genuine and unaltered."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"But the detector isn’t foolproof—and the likely false positives identified by our investigation show why you shouldn’t rely on it alone to tell you if an image is AI."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"We found five examples of images shared by politicians in recent months which were flagged by the tool—even though those who posted the pictures insist they are genuine and unaltered."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"We found five examples of images shared by politicians in recent months which were flagged by the tool—even though those who posted the pictures insist they are genuine and unaltered."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"We found five examples of images shared by politicians in recent months which were flagged by the tool—even though those who posted the pictures insist they are genuine and unaltered."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"There were no obvious signs of visual manipulation, but the tool said there was a SynthID watermark."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"A Google spokesperson told us that using the SynthID Detector without any prior suspicion of AI editing naturally increases the chance of encountering an occasional false positive, and that it recommends interpreting the detector's decision alongside other external signals, such as traditional fact checking methods."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"After we showed Google the findings of our investigation, it made changes to both the public version of the tool and the version used by media professionals to make some of its verdicts less certain."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"And on 15 October, a few days after we first contacted the company, that update was rolled out."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"While the five examples above do appear to be false positives, our investigation did not attempt to establish how commonly false positives occur."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"The sources do not state the exact launch date, the exact date of occurrence, or the date of detection; only months and 'earlier this month' are given. The source does not state a model version, a root cause, or any control that held or failed, so no root_cause, controls or remediation kind was recorded. Incident class 'other' is my judgement: the tool is a detector, not an autonomous agent, so agent_involved is false and no failure_class is given. Full Fact calls the five cases 'likely' false positives; I recorded them as flagged cases. The source gives no count of affected parties beyond five images, and no harm class is stated, so none is recorded. The country is not stated in the source, so context.country is left out. Severity moderate is my judgement from the bounded scope of five images of others. Full Fact did not establish how common false positives are. The remediation's controls_added could not be mapped to a listed control, so no remediation entry was made. [case created by the backfill: read by claude-haiku-5-5, backfill-2026-11-01.2, 2026-11-01; not yet reviewed] [2026-11-01: evidence level set: Preliminary (Publisher not yet named · subject to change)]"},"context":{"industry":null,"org_size_band":null,"country":"unknown","denominator_available":false,"denominator":null,"related_incident_ids":[],"systemic_exposure":null,"shared_model_id":null,"upstream_incident_id":null,"incident_evidence":null,"regulatory":null,"coverage":null},"narrative":{"steps":[{"step":"doing","text":"Google's public SynthID Detector let logged-in users check whether images, video or audio were made or edited with AI.","quote":"Google’s new public SynthID Detector tool allows anyone logged in to check if an image, video or audio file was made or edited with AI using Google, OpenAI, Nvidia or Kakao products.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"went_wrong","text":"The detector classified five images as made or edited with Google AI, although those who posted them said that was not the case.","quote":"in five cases we found that the SynthID Detector classified the image as “made or edited with Google AI”, even though those who’d posted them said that wasn’t the case.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"caught","text":"Full Fact found the five false flags while checking politicians' images with the public tool after its launch.","quote":"We found five examples of images shared by politicians in recent months which were flagged by the tool—even though those who posted the pictures insist they are genuine and unaltered.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"done","text":"After Full Fact shared its findings, Google changed the tool so that some verdicts are less certain.","quote":"After we showed Google the findings of our investigation, it made changes to both the public version of the tool and the version used by media professionals to make some of its verdicts less certain.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"}],"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://fullfact.org/toolkit/google-synthid-detector-flagging-apparently-real-images/"]},"analysis":{"sections":{"timeline":[{"text":"Niamh Salkeld posted an image that the tool later flagged as containing a SynthID watermark.","quote":"In April Niamh Salkeld, a Plaid Cymru candidate in Wales who went on to be elected as a member of the Senedd for the Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni constituency, posted an image of herself holding posters with supporters on the campaign trail.","source_index":0,"when":"April"}]},"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://fullfact.org/toolkit/google-synthid-detector-flagging-apparently-real-images/"]}}