Unhappy Meal
McDonald’s has long been an innovator, known for embracing technology to streamline hiring. In 2020, it launched “Apply Thru” via Alexa and Siri, then partnered with Paradox.ai to automate job chats. But Wired → reports a serious flaw: hackers accessed millions of applicant records using weak passwords like “123456.” McDonald’s is often the first job for teens—now those young applicants face the risk of their personal data being stolen. For background on how automated systems can go wrong, see Weapons of Math Destruction → by Cathy O’Neil.