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Helpful Places

Government of Canada – DTPR AI Register

AI-Assisted Topic Classification of Veteran Comments

Inform

What it collects

About behaviour
Anonymized data
  • Text comments submitted by or about Veterans expressing their topics of interest and concerns. The register does not specify whether comments are identified or de-identified at the point of ingestion; de-identified is a best-effort assessment given the analytical (not individual-decision) purpose.
Run by
Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC)
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

Inform

This tool was used by Veterans Affairs Canada to automatically categorize topics mentioned in Veterans' comments, helping staff understand which issues mattered most to Veterans. It processed text submitted by or about Veterans and grouped comments by subject area. The system has been retired and is no longer in active use.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

About behaviour
Anonymized data
  • Text comments submitted by or about Veterans expressing their topics of interest and concerns. The register does not specify whether comments are identified or de-identified at the point of ingestion; de-identified is a best-effort assessment given the analytical (not individual-decision) purpose.

Processing

Classification & Prediction
  • The script applies topic classification to assign each comment to one or more subject categories. This is a text classification task using machine learning or rule-based methods; the exact algorithm family is not disclosed in the register entry.

What it does

Deciding (Analytical AI)
Human decides
  • The system classifies and categorizes Veterans' comments by topic. Outputs are used by GC employees to inform understanding — human staff interpret and act on the results.

Outputs

Operational data
Anonymized data
  • Categorized topic labels assigned to Veterans' comments, used by GC employees to understand aggregate patterns in Veterans' concerns. Outputs are not individual decisions but aggregate analytical results.

Run by

Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC)
  • Veterans Affairs Canada is the federal department accountable for deploying and operating this topic classification tool to better understand Veterans' concerns.

Government of Canada AI Register — Topic classification of comments

Built by

Government of Canada
  • The system was developed internally by the Government of Canada, not by an external vendor.

Government of Canada AI Register — Topic classification of comments

Kept for

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Shared with

Available to the accountable organization
  • Outputs are available to GC employees at Veterans Affairs Canada for internal analytical purposes. The register lists GC employees as the primary users.
Not available to me
  • The classified topic data is not made available to Veterans or other individuals. It is an internal analytical tool for department staff only.

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 UseVeterans whose comments are processed by this system may not be individually notified that their comments are being categorized by an AI tool. The system is now retired. For information about how Veterans Affairs Canada uses your data, contact the department's privacy office.
  • Right to Algorithmic TransparencyVeterans have the right to know that an AI system was used to categorize their comments. This system has been retired. Information about its use is available through the Government of Canada's public AI register.

Risks and safeguards

  • Societal & cultural harmAutomated topic classification of Veterans' comments may systematically under-represent or misclassify concerns from Veterans with non-standard language use, disabilities affecting communication, or minority linguistic backgrounds.Safeguard: The system was used for internal analysis only by GC employees; no individual decisions were made based solely on the classification. The system is now retired.