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AI-Assisted Handwritten Document Transcription for Fisheries Science

Research & Development

What it collects

About a measurement
Anonymized data
  • Scanned images of handwritten field notes and paper forms containing salmon observation data, including BC16 Historical Data (nearly 100-year-old salmon records) and present-day salmon stream inspection logs. No personal information is included.
Run by
Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)
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

Research & Development

This tool uses optical character recognition (OCR) to automatically convert handwritten field notes and paper forms into structured digital data, helping Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientists access historical and current salmon observation records. It has been piloted on nearly 100-year-old salmon data and present-day stream inspection logs. The system does not process personal information and is used exclusively by Government of Canada employees.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

About a measurement
Anonymized data
  • Scanned images of handwritten field notes and paper forms containing salmon observation data, including BC16 Historical Data (nearly 100-year-old salmon records) and present-day salmon stream inspection logs. No personal information is included.

Processing

Privacy-Preserving Transformation
  • Converts non-machine-readable handwritten documents into structured digital formats. The source data does not contain personal information, so no privacy-preserving transformation of personal identifiers is required.

What it does

Sensing (Perceptive AI)
Human executes
  • Reads handwritten text from scanned paper documents and field notes, extracting characters and structured data fields into a digital format. Human staff review and validate the extracted output.
Deciding (Analytical AI)
Human decides
  • Classifies and structures extracted characters into tabular and digital formats, producing structured records from unstructured handwritten inputs. Downstream scientific use is determined by GC employees.

Outputs

About a measurement
Anonymized data
  • Structured digital records and tabular data extracted from handwritten salmon observation field notes and historical forms. Outputs include digitized scientific measurements and inspection entries ready for database ingestion and research use.

Run by

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO)
  • Federal department responsible for safeguarding Canadian waters and managing fisheries resources. Deploys this OCR transcription tool to digitize scientific field notes and historical salmon observation data for use by GC employees.

Government of Canada AI Register — 2526-DFO-MPO-012

Built by

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Kept for

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Shared with

Not available to me
  • Outputs are structured scientific datasets used internally by Fisheries and Oceans Canada employees. The digitized records are not directly available to members of the public through this system.
Available to the accountable organization
  • Digitized output data is available to Fisheries and Oceans Canada GC employees for scientific research, analysis, and operational use.

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 UseThe register indicates that AI use is not disclosed to users. As this system is used exclusively by GC employees processing non-personal scientific data, affected members of the public are indirect. Individuals seeking information about this system may consult the Government of Canada AI Register at open.canada.ca.
  • Right to Algorithmic TransparencyThis system is listed in the Government of Canada AI Register. Information about the system's purpose, data sources, and development approach (open source) is publicly available at open.canada.ca. The system does not make decisions affecting individuals.

Risks and safeguards

No risks or safeguards have been published for this system yet.