# Graph Error Propagation **Entity class:** Graph-analytic failure mode **Domains:** Network analysis / criminal intelligence / financial compliance / counterterrorism ## Definition **Graph error propagation** is the spread of a single erroneous node attribute or classification through a relational system. Once a node is wrong, its edges carry the error into associates, places, organizations, and every downstream system that ingests the graph. In security graphs this is **guilt by edge**: adjacency becomes a scoring variable, and second-degree contacts absorb part of a node's estimated risk. ## Documented analogs California's state auditor found that the CalGang criminal-intelligence database contained questionable entries agencies could not substantiate, inadequate oversight to protect privacy, and 42 individuals entered before age one. GAO documented de-risking, in which banks restricted or terminated services to money transmitters and nonprofits operating in regions perceived as high-risk for money laundering or terrorist financing, with account closures and delayed or denied transfers imposed without allegations against the affected customers. The NYPD Demographics Unit mapped Muslim community institutions; a 2012 deposition by the Intelligence Division's commanding officer stated the unit had generated no leads. ## Relationships - **general form:** [[wiki/Error Propagation|Error Propagation]] and [[wiki/Model Error|Model Error]]. - **graph machinery:** [[wiki/Graph Analytics|Graph Analytics]], [[wiki/Entity Resolution|Entity Resolution]], and [[wiki/Network Epidemiology|Network Epidemiology]]. - **financial expression:** [[wiki/Terrorist Financing|Terrorist Financing]]. - **identity source:** [[wiki/Watchlist Misidentification|Watchlist Misidentification]]. - **accounting frame:** [[wiki/The Second Error Function|The Second Error Function]]. - **analysis:** [[research/Harms Incurred While Bringing Preventive Systems Online|Harms Incurred While Bringing Preventive Systems Online]]. - **collection:** [[collections/Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment|Terrorism, Counterterrorism, and the Intelligence Environment]]. ## Sources / Provenance - [California State Auditor — The CalGang Criminal Intelligence System, Report 2015-130](https://information.auditor.ca.gov/reports/2015-130/summary.html) (2016). - [GAO-18-642T — Bank Secrecy Act: Derisking along the Southwest Border](https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-18-642t) (2018). - [Associated Press — NYPD: Muslim spying led to no leads, terror cases](http://archive.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2012/08/21/nypd_muslim_spying_led_to_no_leads_terror_cases/) (2012-08-21). **As of:** 2026-09-23