All Time Famous and Controversial Tech Scandals

Big Tech has been embroiled in scandals for decades. The controversies range from privacy violations to data breaches and toxic workplace culture. As a result, many of these companies have come under scrutiny from the public and regulators. Sometimes, they get away with it, and sometimes, their reputation is forever tarnished, as is the case for many of these instances.

Back in the 80s, a radiation therapy machine called the Therac-25 went totally wrong. Although the machine was designed to help cancer patients, it did the opposite since it caused radiation overdoses in many patients.

The world was shocked when once-reputable telecommunications company WorldCom was revealed to be a sham. It turns out WorldCom was responsible for a huge scandal in the accounting world.

Utility and energy-trading company Enron managed to pull off one of the most infamous accounting frauds of all time, and they might have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for a whistleblower letting written by the VP, Sherron Watkins.

What’s more scandalous than murder? When Nina Reiser, an American originally born in Russia, was killed in California, her husband Hans Reiser was put under a microscope and investigated.

When the Samsung Note 7 was released in the summer of 2016, fans of the brand fell in love with the phone. However, a month after the device was released, something out of a sci-fi movie started happening when defective phone batteries caused the phones to overheat and explode.

Diesel emissions tests are critical since they monitor the amount of harmful pollutants emitted into the air. Volkswagen found a way to cheat their emissions inspection when they installed software that detected when vehicles were tested and hence altered the engine’s performance to meet the standards of the EPA.

We’ll never forget Mark Zuckerberg’s face when he testified in front of Congress for partnering with company Cambridge Analytica – a move he’ll likely forever regret. After it was revealed that the British consulting firm mined personal data from tons of Facebook users without consent, the social media company was fined $5 billion.

Although Elizabeth Holmes was once regarded as the Steve Jobs of her generation, she soon became the laughingstock of the tech world. Her company, which was said to revolutionize blood testing, ended up being a total scam that resulted in over a decade of prison time.

In 2013, Edward Snowden took on the NSA, releasing confidential documents that proved that the National Security Agency and other global surveillance programs were covertly accessing Yahoo and Google’s servers.

For some, the idea of cheaters being brought to justice is totally fair. Still, when hackers released tons of personal data on the infidelity-based website Ashley Madison, it was a major breach of privacy regarding some seriously sensitive data.

In 2016, a woman called Ruja Ignatova launched her own cryptocurrency called OneCoin. Sounds normal. The catch is after she marketed it to be a revolution in the world of investment opportunities, it was revealed to be a huge Ponzi scheme.

In 2005, a Chinese journalist called Shi Tao was sentenced to a decade in prison. The sentencing came after he leaked a Tiananmen memo to a human rights forum, which there were apparent Chinese government restrictions on.

Upon first glance, Juicero’s $400 juicer looks like something designed by Apple, but it was a lot less high-tech than you’d think. Chaos broke loose after consumers and pros discovered that the ridiculous price tag was unfounded.

The European Commission ordered Apple to pay the Irish government $14.5 billion US in unpaid taxes in 2016. The Commission stated that Apple could evade taxation on EU income by creating all of its earnings to an Irish head office.

Based on a survey conducted in 2019, over 50% of IG accounts in the United Kingdom engaged in fraudulent undertakings, including purchasing fake likes, followers, and comments.

Sony BMG faced tons of scandal after it came to light that the company integrated a rootkit, which is copy-protection software, onto tons of CD titles. The hidden digital rights management software was controversial in terms of security concerns.

In 2006, the chairwoman of HP, Patricia Dunn, utilized security experts to look into an information leak. In turn, these security specialists employed private investigators, resulting in some seriously shady tactics.

Any tech junkie is probably familiar with Taiwanese electronics company Foxconn, which manufactures gadgets for well-known tech giants such as HP and Apple. But their reputation suffered when over 14 workers tragically took their own lives.

In 2017, one of the United States’s most popular credit reporting agencies experienced a massive data leak, leaving the private financial info of almost 147 million customers out for everyone in the public to witness. We’re talking names, Social Security numbers, addresses, and other info that could cause fraud and identity theft.

A couple of decades ago, WorldCom was the second-biggest long-distance phone company in the United States. This record was soon overshadowed by them being the most major accounting scandal. Well, that is, before 2008, when Bernie Madoff championed that title.

Uber isn’t exactly known for prioritizing the welfare of its employees and maintaining a healthy, boundary-filled culture in the world. Instead, their name has become synonymous with discrimination, sexual harassment, and other toxic practices. They also sought revenge over those who spoke out about this harassment.

Although the humans behind this overhyped company posed an attractive, party-person facade that lured many in, WeWork’s business model was ultimately flawed and poorly managed, resulting in more losses than wins and resulted in failure.

While Robert McCormick, the ex-CEO of IT company Savvis, didn’t exactly defraud investors for billions, his humiliating acts of debauchery and what he considered to be “expenses” have landed him on this list.

An electric truck start-up called Nikola Motors was under fire in 2020 after investors and the public learned that they were misled about just how capable these vehicles were. Although hyping your products is a clever marketing tactic that can earn you greater cash upfront, it can ruin your reputation and leave you paying back investors.

Although most people use Google as their search engine of choice, Google still has competitors, and they’re not afraid to play dirty in an attempt to wipe them out. Google was fined $2.7 billion in 2020 by the EU for exploiting its choice as a popular search engine, promoting its own service over those of competitors.

Back in the day, everyone wanted a Tesla. They were sleek, silent, and better for the environment. Best of all, they practically drove themselves with their autopilot technology. Although the feature was designed to make drivers’ lives easier, it’s led to tragic events, like cars crashing into tractor-trailers.

Google doesn’t have a squeaky-clean reputation, and they proved that when they paid Andy Rubin a $90 million exit sum in 2014, even after he was accused of coercing a woman into giving him oral sex in a hotel room the year before his exit.

A former AT&T tech got himself in hot water after he discovered a secret room that routed traffic from the internet directly to the NSA. And he had documents to back those claims up.

EA Games found themselves with legal issues when they dubbed the ethically questionable loot boxes in their games as “surprise mechanics.” Loot boxes are a source of revenue for the brand and are considered to be a form of gambling by many countries, as well as a factor that can contribute to gambling behavior.

This scandal happened more recently when Xbox acquired video game publisher Activision for $69 billion. The main controversy over Xbox’s strategic move was personal financial gain and greed.