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AI-Assisted Name Matching for Border Risk Screening

Border & Immigration · Safety & Security · Enforcement

What it collects that can identify you

Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Names of travellers and parties to commercial transactions are submitted as search queries. These are direct identifiers that the system attempts to match against enforcement records.

Also collects operational data, which is anonymized data.

Run by
Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
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

Border & ImmigrationSafety & SecurityEnforcement

This system uses fuzzy name-matching software to flag high-risk travellers and goods at the border by comparing names against enforcement datasets. It is used across traveller, commercial, and intelligence operations at the Canada Border Services Agency. The system processes personal information but travellers and importers are not informed that AI or automated name-matching is being used in decisions about them.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Names of travellers and parties to commercial transactions are submitted as search queries. These are direct identifiers that the system attempts to match against enforcement records.
Operational data
Anonymized data
  • Enforcement datasets across multiple CBSA lines of business (Travellers, Commercial, Intelligence and Enforcement) are indexed and used as the reference corpus for matching. These datasets are operational rather than pertaining to a single individual.

Processing

Classification & Prediction
  • SSAName3 applies fuzzy matching algorithms to index, score, and rank name similarity across datasets, assigning relevance scores to candidate matches.

What it does

Deciding (Analytical AI)
Human decides
  • The system scores and ranks name matches against enforcement datasets, producing a flag for CBSA officers who then decide on further action. The system advises; GC employees make the ultimate determination.

Outputs

A recommendation or prediction
Identifiable data
  • The system produces a ranked list of scored name matches flagging a traveller or goods entry as potentially high-risk. These recommendations are reviewed by CBSA officers before any enforcement action is taken.

Run by

Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)
  • CBSA is the federal agency that deploys and operates Fuzzy Search (SSAName3) across its traveller, commercial, and intelligence and enforcement lines of business to flag high-risk individuals and goods at the border.

Government of Canada Algorithmic Impact Assessment Register — Fuzzy Search (SSAName3)

Built by

Informatica
  • Informatica is the external vendor that built and supplies the SSAName3 fuzzy name-search and matching software used by CBSA.

Government of Canada Algorithmic Impact Assessment Register — Fuzzy Search (SSAName3)

Kept for

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Shared with

Available to the accountable organization
  • Match results and flags produced by the system are available to CBSA officers and GC employees who use the system across traveller, commercial, and intelligence and enforcement lines of business.
Not available to me
  • Travellers and importers whose names are processed by this system do not have access to the match results, scores, or flags generated about them. AI use is not disclosed to affected individuals per the register entry.

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 UseAccording to the official AI register entry, AI use is NOT disclosed to travellers or importers affected by this system. Individuals subject to border screening by Fuzzy Search are not informed that automated name-matching technology is being applied to their data. There is no publicly documented mechanism for individuals to learn that this system was used in a decision affecting them.
  • Right to Non-discriminationIndividuals have the right not to be subjected to discriminatory border treatment based on protected characteristics. Fuzzy name matching carries a structural risk of disparate impact on people with certain ethnic names or naming conventions. No public documentation exists on how CBSA tests or monitors this system for discriminatory outcomes. Individuals who believe they have been wrongly flagged may contact the CBSA directly; formal recourse procedures are not described in the register entry.

Risks and safeguards

  • Civil liberties harmFuzzy name matching may produce false positives that flag innocent travellers as high-risk, leading to unwarranted detention, search, or denial of entry — disproportionately affecting people with common names or names similar to those on enforcement lists. The system is used without disclosure to affected individuals.Safeguard: CBSA officers review matches before action is taken (human-in-the-loop); however, no public information is available on accuracy thresholds, false-positive rates, bias testing, or formal redress procedures for misidentified individuals.
  • Reputational harmA false-positive name match could result in a traveller or business being treated as a high-risk subject, causing lasting reputational damage. The fact that AI use is not disclosed to affected persons (per the register) means individuals cannot easily contest or seek correction of erroneous flags.Safeguard: Human officer review is the primary safeguard, but no specific accuracy thresholds, appeals mechanisms, or correction procedures are publicly documented for this system.