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AI-Assisted Graphic Design for City Communications

What it is for

Marketing & Personalization
  • Used to generate visual material for social media communication (Mayor's Office of Equity and Racial Justice) and to design graphics for invitations, flyers, and presentation decks for events (NYC Office of Talent and Workforce Development).

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Inform
  • Supports public-facing information presentation by enabling city staff to produce professional-quality visual communications with limited graphic design expertise on staff.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Run by
Mayor's Office
Where
No fixed location
Kept
No data retained
Shared with
Not stated by the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation.
Your copy
You cannot see the data it holds about you. What you can do

What it is for

Marketing & PersonalizationInform

Canva's AI features are used by two NYC Mayor's Office departments to generate and suggest visual materials — including social media graphics, flyers, and presentation decks — for public communications and internal events. Users provide a text description of the image they want, and the AI produces an editable graphic in response. No identifying information about members of the public is collected or processed by this system.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

About behaviour
Anonymized data
  • Text description of the image or graphic design sought, entered by a city staff member. No identifying information about members of the public is collected or disclosed.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Processing

Language Models
  • Canva AI uses generative models to interpret text prompts describing a desired visual and produce matching graphic layouts, text suggestions, and design elements. The underlying model architecture and training data are proprietary to Canva.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

What it does

Creating (Generative AI)
Human decides
  • Canva AI generates editable graphics and text in response to a user-supplied description. The output is a visual artifact that a staff member then reviews, edits, and decides to publish or discard. The register classifies autonomy as 'Informative', meaning the system is advisory and a human decides what to use.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Outputs

Generated content
Anonymized data
  • Editable graphic and text produced by Canva AI in response to the user's design description. Outputs include social media visuals, flyers, invitations, and presentation decks. Content does not contain or reference identifying information about members of the public.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Run by

Mayor's Office
  • Two departments within the NYC Mayor's Office that use Canva AI features for creating promotional and communications materials. Neither department holds a contract with Canva; both use the free public version of the platform.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Built by

Canva
  • Canva is a cloud-based online graphic design platform. The AI features used by the Mayor's Office are part of Canva's off-the-shelf free product; the city holds no contract with the vendor and training data is proprietary to Canva.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Kept for

No data retained
  • No identifying information about members of the public is collected or retained. The register states no identifying information is collected or disclosed.
  • Duration: Not applicable — no identifying data collected

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Shared with

Not available to me
  • No identifying information about members of the public is collected or disclosed by this system. Members of the public have no personal data held by this system to access.

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

Stored

Stored on 3rd Party Cloud
  • Canva is a cloud-based platform; design work and prompt inputs are processed and stored on Canva's proprietary cloud infrastructure. The city holds no contract with Canva and uses the free public version.
  • Duration: Governed by Canva's terms of service; not specified in the register

NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report

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 NYC Office of Technology and Innovation, not the vendor.

Your rights

  • Right to Be Informed of AI UseMembers of the public whose likenesses or information are not used by this system have limited direct rights to exercise. The city's use of Canva AI is disclosed through the NYC Algorithmic Tools Compliance Report, which is publicly available. No mechanism for individual notice is described in the register.

Risks and safeguards

  • Societal & cultural harmAI-generated visual content published in city communications could inadvertently convey misleading, biased, or culturally inappropriate imagery. Mitigation relies on human review: the register classifies the system as 'Informative' (advisory only), meaning a staff member reviews and approves all AI-generated content before publication. Training data is proprietary to Canva and its provenance cannot be independently audited by the city.