Risk & governance
False positive
A system flags something as present or risky when it is not.
Definition
A false positive is an incorrect positive classification, such as blocking a legitimate payment or flagging a compliant communication.
Why it matters
High false-positive rates create customer friction, operational workload and alert fatigue.
Related concepts
- F1 score
A combined measure of precision and recall.
- Guardrail
A technical or procedural control that constrains system behaviour.
- False negative
A system misses something that is genuinely present or risky.