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Automated Permit Decisions for Export and Import Controls

Enforcement

What it collects that can identify you

Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Permit applicants submit identifying information as part of their request, including details about themselves or their business, required to process the export or import permit application.

Also collects operational data, which is anonymized data.

Run by
Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
Where
No fixed location
Kept
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
Shared with
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
Your copy
You cannot see the data it holds about you. What you can do

What it is for

Enforcement

This system automatically grants or denies permits under Canada's Export and Import Permits Act using rules-based logic, such as checking available quotas for importers and exporters. It processes permit applications submitted by members of the public and businesses through Global Affairs Canada. Applicants are not currently informed that an AI or automated system is involved in processing their permit.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

Sensitive personal information
Identifiable data
  • Permit applicants submit identifying information as part of their request, including details about themselves or their business, required to process the export or import permit application.
Operational data
Anonymized data
  • The system ingests operational data such as available import and export quotas, which are used as rules to determine permit eligibility automatically.

Processing

Classification & Prediction
  • The NEICS and NEXCOL systems use rules-based classification logic — checking conditions such as quota availability — to automatically classify each permit application as approved or refused.

What it does

Deciding (Analytical AI)
Autonomous
  • The system applies rules-based logic (e.g., checking quota availability) to automatically decide whether a permit is granted, without human review of each decision.

Outputs

A decision about you
Identifiable data
  • The system produces a binding permit grant or refusal for a named importer or exporter. The decision determines whether an individual or business may legally export or import controlled goods.

Run by

Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
  • Global Affairs Canada is the federal department that operates the New EICS system to automatically process export and import permit applications under the Export and Import Permits Act.

Government of Canada AI Register — New EICS

Built by

Government of Canada
  • The system was developed by the Government of Canada itself, meaning there is no external commercial vendor; development and deployment are both government-internal.

Government of Canada AI Register — New EICS

Kept for

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Shared with

Not available to me
  • The outputs of the automated system — including the permit decision logic and any internal scoring or quota data — are not described as accessible to individual applicants. The source does not indicate any self-service data access mechanism.

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 UseAs of the time of this register entry, applicants are NOT informed that an automated system is making decisions about their permit. The register field 'AI use disclosed to users' is marked No. Applicants should have the right to be told when an automated system is deciding their permit application.
  • Right to ContestApplicants whose permit is automatically refused should have the right to contest that decision. The source material does not describe a formal contestation mechanism for automated decisions under this system. Contact Global Affairs Canada for information on how to challenge a permit decision.
  • Right to Algorithmic TransparencyThe public has a right to know that this system automatically makes permit decisions using rules-based logic. The register records that AI use is not currently disclosed to applicants, meaning this right is not yet being fulfilled. Global Affairs Canada is accountable for improving transparency.

Risks and safeguards

  • Civil liberties harmAutomated decisions that deny permits without human review may infringe due-process rights, particularly for businesses or individuals affected by quota limits they cannot challenge. The register indicates AI use is not disclosed to applicants, further limiting their ability to contest. No mitigations are described in the available source material.
  • Loss of autonomyApplicants are not informed that their permit application is being decided by an automated system, removing their ability to seek human review or understand the basis for decisions. No opt-out or disclosure mechanism is noted in the source. No mitigations are described in the available source material.