[nmaley]

The Robodebt scandal in Australia didn't spill over to violence in the streets, but it came close. Robodebt was a debt collection system introduced by the Federal government to recover supposed overpayments of social security. It was flawed at every level, including software design, and resulted in nationwide protests. see https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6037228/robo-debt-cen...

[mediumdeviation]

Similar but worse, the Horizon scandal in the UK where bugs in Fujitsu stocktaking software sent post office workers to jail and ruined lives because administrators took the software's side when it found accounting shortfalls https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56718036

[fphhotchips]

I would hesitate before being so quick to say "worse". Robodebt resulted in suicides and primarily targeted the vulnerable. I would suggest that both schemes just be labelled unconscionable.

[scruss]

Horizon was horrific. The spec was so old that the contract was with colonial favourites ICL, before they were fully renamed Fujitsu. Several postmasters committed suicide when the Royal Mail initiated fraud causes against them that were caused by Horizon accounting errors.

[kragen]

It wasn't the collection agents who were protesting, though; it was the people being used by the software who protested against it, not the people who used it.