Counterintelligence for civil society

Investigating novel threats to democracy, human rights, and global security in the digital ecosystem.

(Un)forced Errors

Analysis of Proposed Surveillance Law Expansion under Bill C-22, An Act respecting lawful access

Law & Policy

This submission analyzes Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act, which would enact broad surveillance obligations and reforms in Canada. Issues include: the bill’s sweeping scope, significant constitutional and human rights risks, transparency and accountability deficits, and dangers to encryption and Canada’s cybersecurity. We recommend entirely withdrawing several elements of the bill and suggest amendments to mitigate harms. 

June 2, 2026

Tall Tales

How Chinese Actors Use Impersonation and Stolen Narratives to Perpetuate Digital Transnational Repression

Digital Transnational RepressionTargeted Surveillance

In collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), we identified two distinct actors aligned with the People’s Republic of China that have been targeting and impersonating journalists and civil society. Our findings provide insight into the Chinese government’s practice of digital transnational repression and its shift to a system of state-sponsored attacks carried out by private contractors.

April 27, 2026

Bad Connection

Uncovering Global Telecom Exploitation by Covert Surveillance Actors

Targeted Surveillance

Our investigation uncovers two sophisticated telecom surveillance campaigns and, for the first time, links real-world attack traffic to mobile operator signalling infrastructure. The findings expose how suspected commercial surveillance vendors (CSVs) exploit the global telecom interconnect ecosystem, leverage private operator networks, and conduct covert location tracking operations that can persist undetected for years.

April 23, 2026

Counterintelligence for civil society

Investigating novel threats to democracy, human rights, and global security in the digital ecosystem.

Counterintelligence for civil society

Investigating novel threats to democracy, human rights, and global security in the digital ecosystem.

(Un)forced Errors

Analysis of Proposed Surveillance Law Expansion under Bill C-22, An Act respecting lawful access

Law & Policy

This submission analyzes Bill C-22, the Lawful Access Act, which would enact broad surveillance obligations and reforms in Canada. Issues include: the bill’s sweeping scope, significant constitutional and human rights risks, transparency and accountability deficits, and dangers to encryption and Canada’s cybersecurity. We recommend entirely withdrawing several elements of the bill and suggest amendments to mitigate harms. 

June 2, 2026

Read the full report

Tall Tales

How Chinese Actors Use Impersonation and Stolen Narratives to Perpetuate Digital Transnational Repression

Digital Transnational RepressionTargeted Surveillance

In collaboration with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), we identified two distinct actors aligned with the People’s Republic of China that have been targeting and impersonating journalists and civil society. Our findings provide insight into the Chinese government’s practice of digital transnational repression and its shift to a system of state-sponsored attacks carried out by private contractors.

April 27, 2026

Read the full report

Bad Connection

Uncovering Global Telecom Exploitation by Covert Surveillance Actors

Targeted Surveillance

Our investigation uncovers two sophisticated telecom surveillance campaigns and, for the first time, links real-world attack traffic to mobile operator signalling infrastructure. The findings expose how suspected commercial surveillance vendors (CSVs) exploit the global telecom interconnect ecosystem, leverage private operator networks, and conduct covert location tracking operations that can persist undetected for years.

April 23, 2026

Read the full report

The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary research unit at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto. We apply our collective expertise in the fields of law, computer science, cybersecurity, political science, and social sciences to investigate complex issues of the 21st century.

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Explore focus areas

App Security & Privacy
Artificial Intelligence
Censorship
Digital Transnational Repression
Disinformation
Law & Policy
Mass Surveillance
Targeted Surveillance

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Recent news

Event

Cynthia Khoo at the ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency 2026

Happening on June 25, 2026

This event is hosted by the Association for Computing Machinery. Senior fellow Cynthia Khoo will be a keynote speaker on the “Canadian AI Policy in a Global Context” panel at the ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT). ACM FAccT is an interdisciplinary conference dedicated to bringing together a diverse community of scholars from […]

Artificial Intelligence Law & Policy
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