{"schema_version":"0.10.0","id":"LR-2026-0806","record_version":1,"title":"AI photo editing alters women's appearance, erasing visible differences","verification":{"human_verified":false,"method":"automated_gate","auto_verified":true,"score":50.8,"score_breakdown":{"source_authority":12.1,"independent_corroboration":15.0,"implicated_party_confirmed":0.0,"citation_integrity":14.0,"specificity":0.0,"completeness":2.56,"unhedged_language":4.62},"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":"confirmed","reason":"2 independent outlets","original_document":null,"reports_total":2,"reports_independent":2,"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":"confirmed","reason":"2 independent outlets"}]},"sources_hash":"343f83c240c3e74cf5cc1c1e0db0188615a4e1853214b0a6f2546f8ef826c1f4"},"system":{"model_name":null,"model_version":null,"developer":"unknown","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":"rearrange the photos in the work newsletter","safeguard_state":null,"production_intended":null},"event":{"date_occurred":null,"date_disclosed":"2026-10-28","incident_class":"bias_disparate_impact","failure_class":null,"agent_involved":null,"secondary_failure_classes":[],"trigger":"unknown","duration":null,"detection_method":"victim","summary":"A workplace newsletter image of Rhiannon Morgan, from Bridgend, who has a rare skin condition, was auto-retouched by AI, although Canva was asked only to rearrange the photos. The edited image smoothed her skin and removed visible redness and hard skin on her hands. Canva said it does not automatically retouch photos and was looking into the case. The company has not confirmed what caused the alteration. Rhiannon saw the image before it was sent out. Separately, a BBC Wales investigation found AI tools removed visible differences when prompted to make people look normal.","tags":[],"date_detected":null,"near_miss":null,"root_cause":"unknown","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":"minor","severity_because":"Test: minor (contained to one deployer, no third party touched). Fact: the image was seen by the affected person before it was sent out.","harm_class":[],"affected_description":null,"protected_class_involved":null,"data_categories_exposed":[],"loss_range_usd":null,"reversibility":null,"downstream_exposure_count":null},"evidence":{"sources":[{"url":"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmx28e44xxx7o","publisher":"BBC","date":"2026-10-28","type":"press","title":"'Super offensive' - we love how we look but AI tried to 'fix' our visible differences - BBC","archived_url":null,"attachment":"first_report","independence":"independent"},{"url":"https://www.techtimes.co.uk/ai-image-editing-visible-differences-workplace-photo-1809522","publisher":"www.techtimes.co.uk","date":"2026-10-29","type":"press","title":"'I Don't Know Who That Person Is': Woman Says AI-Edited Photo Erased Signs of Her Skin Condition - www.techtimes.co.uk","archived_url":null,"independence":"independent"}],"per_field_confidence":{"system.intended_use":"C","event.detection_method":"C","event.root_cause":"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","system.developer":"D","event.date_disclosed":"D","context.denominator_available":"D"},"field_citations":{"system.intended_use":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"She understands the software programme Canva was asked to rearrange the photos in the work newsletter, not to edit them."}],"event.detection_method":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Luckily, Rhiannon saw the image before it was sent out."}],"event.root_cause":[{"source_index":1,"quote":"The company has not confirmed what caused the alteration."}],"event.incident_class":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"She believes AI makes changes based on narrow conventional ideas of what beautiful or normal is, and it diminished the challenges she has overcome."}],"impact.severity":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Luckily, Rhiannon saw the image before it was sent out."}],"impact.severity_because":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Luckily, Rhiannon saw the image before it was sent out."}],"event.summary":[{"source_index":0,"quote":"Rhiannon Morgan, from Bridgend, said an image of her used in a work newsletter had been auto-retouched by AI."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"She understands the software programme Canva was asked to rearrange the photos in the work newsletter, not to edit them."},{"source_index":1,"quote":"The edited image smoothed Morgan's skin and removed visible redness and hard skin on her hands."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Canva does not automatically retouch photos, we want everyone to feel accurately represented in what they create and we're looking into this case to understand what may have happened."},{"source_index":1,"quote":"The company has not confirmed what caused the alteration."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"Luckily, Rhiannon saw the image before it was sent out."},{"source_index":0,"quote":"A BBC Wales investigation found AI tools including Elon Musk's Grok, Google's Gemini and OpenAI's ChatGPT removed visible differences when prompted to make a person look \"normal\"."}]},"notes_on_gaps":"No date of occurrence or detection is stated, so no dates are given. The sources do not name the AI model or the feature used; Canva is the only product named for this incident. No cause is confirmed by the company, so root_cause is unknown. No control is stated as held, failed or missing in this incident, so links is empty. No remediation is reported. The BBC Wales tests of Grok, Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude and Meta AI are separate from this incident and are not recorded as its facts. Judgements made: incident class bias_disparate_impact and risk RK16 rest on Rhiannon Morgan's stated belief, not a confirmed finding; severity minor and harm none_materialised rest on the image being seen before it was sent out. Canva's developer role is inferred from the source naming it as the software used. Agent involvement is not stated, so no failure class is given. No direct loss, record count, or third-party count is stated. [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: Confirmed (2 independent outlets)]"},"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":"Canva was asked to rearrange photos in a work newsletter, not to edit them.","quote":"She understands the software programme Canva was asked to rearrange the photos in the work newsletter, not to edit them.","source_index":0,"grade":"C"},{"step":"caught","text":"Rhiannon saw the image before it was sent out.","quote":"Luckily, Rhiannon saw the image before it was sent out.","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://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmx28e44xxx7o","https://www.techtimes.co.uk/ai-image-editing-visible-differences-workplace-photo-1809522"]},"analysis":{"sections":{"timeline":[{"text":"Rhiannon saw the edited image before it was sent out.","quote":"Luckily, Rhiannon saw the image before it was sent out.","source_index":0,"when":null}]},"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"backfill-2026-11-01.2","extracted_at":"2026-11-01","source_urls":["https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmx28e44xxx7o","https://www.techtimes.co.uk/ai-image-editing-visible-differences-workplace-photo-1809522"]}}