Ontario's AI Prison Risk Assessment Tool Disproportionately Targets Black Inmates, Class Action Lawsuit Alleges
Key Takeaways
- ▸SAFER algorithm assigns security levels based on biased historical data from racially discriminatory policing and court systems
- ▸Ontario government acknowledged in internal documents that the AI tool would disproportionately affect Black and Indigenous prisoners but failed to implement safeguards for Black inmates
- ▸Black prisoners face harsher confinement conditions (maximum security placements with severely restricted visitation) due to algorithmic bias
Summary
The Security Assessment for Evaluating Risk (SAFER) program has been quietly used in Ontario's jails since early 2021 to assign prisoners to minimum, medium, or maximum security detention. The algorithm ingests personal data including arrests, charges, and disciplinary records to generate risk scores from 0 to 100. However, a class action lawsuit filed in 2025 and reporting by The Breach reveal that SAFER perpetuates racial discrimination, as it is trained on historically biased data from police and court systems that have documented patterns of harsher treatment toward Black individuals.
Internally, Ontario's Ministry of the Solicitor General acknowledged in training documents that "Indigenous and racialized individuals face systemic discrimination in our justice system" and that assessments like SAFER would contribute to overrepresentation of these groups in maximum security. Despite this awareness, the province has only implemented corrective measures for Indigenous prisoners—applying statistical controls to reduce their maximum-security placement—while taking no such steps for Black prisoners.
The consequences are severe: security designation determines access to visits, programs, and living conditions. Prisoners assigned to maximum security face one video visit per week instead of in-person visits, more restrictive cells, and limited access to activities. Incarcerated individuals report that they cannot even access their own SAFER scores despite requesting them repeatedly. The lawsuit challenges the government's knowing deployment of a discriminatory algorithm and its failure to mitigate documented harms to Black inmates.
- Incarcerated individuals have no access to their SAFER scores despite repeated requests, denying them transparency and opportunity to challenge decisions
- Government applied corrective measures only for Indigenous prisoners, creating an inconsistent and discriminatory policy framework
