I think you're referring to Benford's Law [0] and related analysis? It doesn't apply in every context, in particular it assumes values are naturally distribute

I think you're referring to Benford's Law [0] and related analysis? It doesn't apply in every context, in particular it assumes values are naturally distributed and have varying numbers of digits. But it is quite effective in those contexts where it is appropriate! [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benford%2527s_law https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benford%2527s_law