AI-Assisted Translation for Government Documents

Translation & Language Access

What it collects

Operational data

Anonymized data

Internal government documents are provided as the source text for translation. The register confirms no personal information is involved in this processing.

Government of Canada Algorithmic Impact Assessment — DeepL Pro Translation (2526-PSC-CFP-004)

Run by: Public Service Commission of Canada (PSC)
Where: No fixed location
Kept: Not stated by the Helpful Places.
Shared with: Accountable organization
Your copy: You cannot see the data it holds about you. What you can do

What it is for

Translation & Language Access

DeepL Pro is used by the Public Service Commission of Canada to generate first-draft translations of internal documents. Translation specialists then review, refine, and finalize each draft before it is used. The system does not handle personal information, and its use is disclosed to employees. It is intended to help the department complete translations faster and more cost-effectively.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

Operational data

Anonymized data

Internal government documents are provided as the source text for translation. The register confirms no personal information is involved in this processing.

Government of Canada Algorithmic Impact Assessment — DeepL Pro Translation (2526-PSC-CFP-004)

Processing

Language Models

DeepL Pro uses deep neural network-based language models specifically trained for high-quality machine translation. The underlying model reads source text and generates fluent target-language text.

Government of Canada Algorithmic Impact Assessment — DeepL Pro Translation (2526-PSC-CFP-004)

What it does

Understanding (Semantic AI)

Human decides

DeepL Pro applies neural machine translation to understand source-language text and produce a semantically equivalent draft in the target language. Human translators then decide what to accept, revise, or discard in the generated draft.

Government of Canada Algorithmic Impact Assessment — DeepL Pro Translation (2526-PSC-CFP-004)

Creating (Generative AI)

Human decides

The system generates new translated text in the target language that did not previously exist. This generated draft is reviewed by a human specialist before any official or operational use.

Government of Canada Algorithmic Impact Assessment — DeepL Pro Translation (2526-PSC-CFP-004)

Outputs

Generated content

Anonymized data

The system produces a first-draft translation of each submitted document. This generated text is reviewed, revised for style, accuracy, and departmental-specific details by human translation specialists before being finalized.

Government of Canada Algorithmic Impact Assessment — DeepL Pro Translation (2526-PSC-CFP-004)

Run by

Public Service Commission of Canada (PSC)

The Public Service Commission of Canada procured and distributes DeepL Pro licences to translation specialists and administrative personnel to support departmental translation work.

Government of Canada Algorithmic Impact Assessment — DeepL Pro Translation (2526-PSC-CFP-004)

Built by

DeepL

DeepL is the specialized vendor that builds and supplies the DeepL Pro translation service. The system is developed and maintained by DeepL and licensed to the Public Service Commission of Canada.

Government of Canada Algorithmic Impact Assessment — DeepL Pro Translation (2526-PSC-CFP-004)

Kept for

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Shared with

Not available to me

The outputs of this system are internal translation drafts accessible only to PSC translation specialists and administrative personnel. Members of the public do not have access to these drafts.

Government of Canada Algorithmic Impact Assessment — DeepL Pro Translation (2526-PSC-CFP-004)

Available to the accountable organization

Translation drafts produced by DeepL Pro are accessible to authorized PSC employees — specifically the 25 licence holders distributed across translation and administrative roles within the department.

Government of Canada Algorithmic Impact Assessment — DeepL Pro Translation (2526-PSC-CFP-004)

Stored

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

How to read the colours

Can it identify you?

Anonymized data: Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
Pseudonymous data: Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
Identifiable data: The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.

Who completes the loop?

Human decides: This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
Human executes: This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
Autonomous: This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.

Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.

What you can do

Ask about this system

Questions go to the Helpful Places, not the vendor.

Your rights

Right to Be Informed of AI UseGC employees are informed that AI is used in the translation process. The AI register confirms that AI use is disclosed to users of the system.
Right to a Human ReviewAll AI-generated translation drafts are reviewed by human translation specialists before finalization. No AI output is used directly without human oversight and correction.

Risks and safeguards

Societal & cultural harmAI-generated translation may introduce errors in tone, departmental terminology, or culturally specific language that could affect the quality or integrity of official communications.Safeguard: All drafts are reviewed by qualified human translation specialists for style, accuracy, and departmental-specific details before any official use.