1. Information Security and Privacy Aspects of Using Online Machine Translation in CAT Tools
About TeMpTations & Masks
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner
Nov 15, Freelance Translation Technology Consultant

2. Machine Translation and the Translator Today
… and MT plugins like DeepL Pro are fully secure and GDPR compliant (?!)
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

3. MT Integration in CAT Tools
… and many more
batch mode / via pre-translation => “post-editing”
interactive lookup during translation at:
segment level
sub-segment level (AutoSuggest, MatchRepair, MT-based fuzzy match repair, TM validated MT match…)
SDL Trados Studio
Across
memoQ
STAR Transit
CAT Tools
These scenarios are not really new, see e. g. Heyn, Matthias (1996): Integrating machine translation into translation memory systems. pp
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

4. CAT+MT Integration – Example 1
Microsoft MT Plug-in and MT pre-translation in memoQ
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5. CAT MT Integration - Example 2
Interactive MT proposals (via. AutoSuggest) in SDL Trados Studio 2019 via DeepL Pro plug-in
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

6. Free / Cheap Cloud MT Plug-ins in Common CAT Tools
MT Provider
CAT Tool Integration
Customization / Adaptive MT
Google Cloud Translation
SDL Trados Studio
Across
memoQ
Transit NXT
not in standard version
TMX import via Google AutoML Translation
DeepL
no(t yet)
MyMemory
TMX import
Adaptive MT (in Pro version)
Microsoft MT
via Category ID (=domain) in standard version for SMT
TMX import via Microsoft Custom Translator …
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

7. Information Security Aspects with Cloud MT Solutions
Confidentiality
Availability
Integrity
Data encryption
Avoid use / storing of data input by third parties
Confidentiality:
The “wrong” people can see information in transit.
MT sites can use your data in ways you did not intend.
(Don de Palma, 2014: and-localization/article/free-machine-translation-can-leak-data/ )
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

8. Data Protection Aspects with Cloud MT Solutions
Server location
Data Processing Agreements
Anonymization / Pseudonymization
Data Protection / Privacy:
“data protection by design will become a legal obligation once the GDPR starts to apply in May Those who process personal data of individuals will have to take data protection into account “both at the time of the determination of the means for processing and at the time of the processing itself”, as Article 25 of the GDPR puts it.” communications-privacy_en
MT user is the data controller and thus responsible and liable for what happens with third-party personal data
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

9. Warn the User before Using Cloud MT in CAT Tools
(too few) warnings and links to Terms of Service of cloud MT providers in CAT environments
Warnings when setting up / configuring MT plug-ins
Warning only when setting up Google MT plug-in
SDL Trados Studio
Across
memoQ
STAR Transit
CAT Tools
Warnings configurable:
always
never
per project
No warnings in UI
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

10. Examples from MT Terms of Services - MyMemory
Oct 2018
MyMemory
“We collect any segment submitted and store it on a long term basis, whether it’s public or private. [..] The contributions to the archive, whether they are “Public Data” or “Private Data”, are collected, processed and used by Translated to create statistics, set up new services and improve existing ones.” […]
MyMemory uses external partners to outsource some developments and provide some functionalities: this involves data sharing. External Machine Translation providers is the most obvious example. Translated can entitle its partners of a usage license over “Public Data” or “Private Data” in order to improve the quality of our and/or 3rd parties' services (eg. machine translation suggestions, glossaries, language models, spell checkers...). ( Oct 2018)
Confidentiality
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

11. Examples from MT Terms of Service – DeepL Pro
Oct 2018
DeepL Pro
Data Confidentiality: Your texts are deleted immediately after you've received the translation
Your Data is Secure: “DeepL Pro never stores the texts you are translating, and the connection to our servers is always encrypted. This means that your texts are not used for any purposes other than your translation, nor can they be accessed by third parties. As a company based in Germany, all our operations comply with European Union Data Protection laws.”
BUT:
Servers are located in Iceland ( deploys-51-petaflop-supercomputer-on-verne-global-campus/ Sept 2017)
“7.12 Customer is obligated to observe all legal requirements for the collection, processing and use of data which is transmitted to and processed by DeepL for the Customer in connection with the provision of its services under this Agreement. In particular, Customer shall immediately inform DeepL if Customer intends to transmit personal data to DeepL using the API. Customer guarantees not to collect, process or use any personal data in connection with the API without the express consent of the data subject or sufficient other legal authorisation. […].” ( Oct 2018)
Privacy
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

12. Masking of Personal Data in the Translation Process
Masking = anonymization or pseudonymization
Translation task assignment
Review
Content creation
Pre-production & file preparation
Project
creation
Project
preparation
Project
finalization
When? ? ? ? ?
Process flow inspired by SDL Studio training presentation ?
manually in source texts
semi-automatically via search+replace strings+regex file
automatically via tools
How?
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

13. Masking during Translation Project Creation
The data is protected for the (whole) translation process – in source and target
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14. Pseudonymization - Negative Side-Effects on Content
Google NMT
Issues with:
understandability
MT quality
potential adaptation needs (date format, transliteration, …)
TM content re-use
wrong 100% matches …
DeepL
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

15. Masking of Personal Data before Using Cloud MT
Project
creation
Project
preparation
Translation task assignment
Content creation
Pre-production & file preparation
Review
Project
finalization
When?
Process flow inspired by SDL Studio training presentation
Personal data is only protected during transmission to the cloud MT provider 
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

16. Cloud MT Masking Options in CAT Tools
only few available, for example:
MT Enhanced plugin (Google MT, Microsoft MT) – Studio
RyS plugin (Google MT) – Studio
regex knowledge required for configuration
source text untouched
meaningful tags
Config file for MT Enhanced plugin
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

17. Example Masking with MT Enhanced Plug-in
Google MT output in SDL Trados Studio with masking via MT Enhanced plug-in
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18. Some Conclusions on Personal Data Masking in CAT Tools
Additional efforts during preparation (tools, regex knowledge)
Tagging of personal data decreases understandability of source text and MT output quality
“meta-information” (type, gender etc.) should be preserved for better understanding by translators
100 % matches need more revision after un-masking
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

19. Some Conclusions on Personal Data Masking in CAT Tools
With a little additional background knowledge, it is often possible to identify the individuals you thought had been anonymized
Use secure offline MT solutions
Avoid masking efforts and disadvantages via - clear information about document classification and personal data content - guidelines+agreements with translators regarding cloud MT systems
Translating and the Computer Christine Bruckner

20. Thank you! Christine.Bruckner@CATTMaTTers.de