In a Q&A for the Digital Front Lines report by Foreign Policy Analytics, The Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert and human rights activist Carine Kanimba talk about the psychological impact of being targeted by mercenary spyware and the growing threat of surveillance technologies being misused by both state and non-state actors. They discuss how spyware… Read more »

Ron Deibert discusses the growing risks of tech-driven authoritarianism and the deregulation of the AI industry in this episode of Beyond the Headlines (BTH). This episode explores the critical dynamics of how tech giants have come to dominate political discourse, featuring the Citizen Lab’s director Ron Deibert, and Prof. Andres Kasekamp of the Department of… Read more »

China’s DeepSeek AI chatbot has raised serious privacy concerns. Speaking with Kevin Collier at NBC News, The Citizen Lab’s director, Ron Deibert, remarks that the privacy problems regarding DeepSeek are not limited to Chinese platforms, and that personal information is also used by U.S. artificial intelligence platforms. Read the article here. 

Ron Deibert, director of The Citizen Lab, discusses his new book, Chasing Shadows, with CityNews journalist Faiza Amin, offering insights into his experiences and the world of surveillance. Chasing Shadows dives deep into the world of digital espionage and misinformation, revealing how authoritarian governments monitor individuals through an insecure digital ecosystem in an attempt to… Read more »

RightsCon, the world’s leading summit on human rights in the digital age, is just around the corner and will be held in Taipei, Taiwan and online from February 24–27, 2025.  Researchers from The Citizen Lab are scheduled to speak in a series of discussions, panels, and workshops at RightsCon addressing some of the most urgent… Read more »

Jon Penney, research fellow at The Citizen Lab and an associate professor at the Osgoode Hall Law School at York University, writes an insightful opinion piece in the Globe and Mail critiquing U.S. President Donald Trump’s attempt to delay the enforcement of the TikTok ban.    Penney argues that Trump’s executive order is legally flawed… Read more »

Reporting to the Director of Administration, Citizen Lab and working under the general direction of the Director, Citizen Lab in coordination with the University of Toronto’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), the Systems and Security Technical Lead is responsible for working with Information Technology staff and resources at Citizen Lab and the wider University to minimize risk of the compromising of information, data, servers, and server-based applications.

Noura Aljizawi, senior researcher at The Citizen Lab, delivered testimony before the House of Commons Subcommittee on International Human Rights (SDIR) of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development on November 26, 2024, addressing the issue of transnational repression in developing democracies.

In March 2024, Emile Dirks, research associate at The Citizen Lab, along with Ausma Bernot (Griffith University), and Yves Moreau (University of Leuven) prepared a written submission in response to the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights call for input on the application of digital technologies in the administration of justice. 

The Information Controls Fellowship Program (ICFP) from the Open Technology Fund (OTF) fosters research, outputs, and creative collaboration on repressive Internet censorship and surveillance issues. We welcome proposals from fellowship candidates for research projects related to our current thematic areas.