Case ID and accountability

A Case ID is a reference to the document that provides the lawful grounds for a privacy-sensitive action: a police case file, a court order, a missing person report. On the IREX platform it is not paperwork filed elsewhere. It is a gate in the software, and the action does not run without it.

Case ID logging for high-risk AI operations was introduced in April 2025 and is a platform-level mandate rather than a setting an administrator can switch off. This page explains what it covers and what it produces. For the procedure, see Provide Case ID.

Why a justification gate

Video intelligence raises a question that logging alone does not answer. A log records that an operator searched for a face at 14:20. It does not record whether anyone was entitled to. Reconstructing that after the fact means correlating the log against case files held in a different system, which in practice means it does not happen.

Requiring the justification at the moment of the action closes that gap. The reason is captured while it is known, by the person who has it, and it travels with the action permanently. Three parties benefit, for different reasons. The public, because misuse becomes detectable. The operator, because lawful work is documented as lawful. The oversight body, because it finally has evidence rather than assurances.

The accountability chain

The chain runs from an operator's intent to an external reviewer who never needs access to the platform itself. Each link is a platform function, not a procedure someone has to remember.

When a Case ID is required

The gate applies to actions that touch privacy or civil liberties. The list is extended as ethical requirements tighten, so treat it as current rather than final:

Any event search, including traffic violations.
Person searches by photo, name, or physical appearance.
Vehicle searches by plate, make, model, or vehicle ID.
Person database management, including watchlist enrollment.
Vehicle database management.
Alarm monitor management.
Gallery management, including external video uploads and their analysis.
Viewing live video in the media player, and archive uploads into it.

The requirement follows the action, not the interface. An action initiated through Ask IREX or through the platform API is subject to the same gate as the same action performed on screen.

What a Case ID looks like

The value is entered in a standardized format, [object] - [reason] - [document number], for example Jane Doe - wanted - 123456. A consistent format is what makes the log searchable later: an auditor reviewing a single case can retrieve every action taken under it, across operators and across months.

The entry procedure, including where the Case ID field sits in the interface, is in Provide Case ID.

What the Logbook records

Recorded	Detail
Who	The user identity and the role held at the time of the action.
What	The action taken: the search type, the database operation, the export, the configuration change.
When	A precise timestamp.
Why	The Case ID and the lawful justification it references.

Authorized supervisors search the Logbook by Case ID, user ID, event type, or date and time range, to trace a sequence of actions, audit compliance, or investigate suspected misuse. The audit log also records actions performed inside the audit log itself, so filtering, searching, and exporting from it are first-class events. That closes the last gap in the chain of custody: reviewing the record leaves a record.

See View the Logbook.

Tamper-evident export

Records that live only inside the system they describe are weak evidence. The platform therefore pushes the audit trail outside its own boundary:

Signed log files are exported automatically, every day, to a secure archive.
Each export is digitally signed, so later alteration is detectable rather than merely prohibited.
The archive remains available for analysis after a disaster or a security incident, when the platform's own storage may not be.
Independent parties, including ethics committees, inspectors general, and court-appointed auditors, can review the exported logs without being given access to the platform.