Key findings and recommendations from the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics on the use and impact of facial recognitioon, along with some concerns.

Citizen Lab fellow Cynthia Khoo appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) as a witness in the Committee’s study on the use and impact on facial recognition technology. She was invited to provide testimony on the potential harms and human rights implications of facial recognition, including recommendations for how the Government of Canada should regulate such technology.

We identified a network of 885 websites and attributed these websites with high confidence as having been used by the United States (US) Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for covert communication.

On August 9, 2022, Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert appeared before the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Access to information, privacy, and Ethics on the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) use of spyware and advocating for stronger controls and oversight.

On July 27, 2022, Citizen Lab senior researcher John Scott-Railton spoke before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He was invited to provide expert testimony on a hearing devoted to combatting threats to U.S. national security from the proliferation of foreign commercial spyware.

On June 8, 2022, Citizen Lab fellow Lex Gill appeared before the Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence to discuss S-7: An Act to Amend the Customs Act and the Preclearance Act, 2016. The following is an edited version of her opening comments.

The Citizen Lab is at the forefront of investigating and reporting on abuses of mercenary spyware. Our submission highlights the capabilities of spyware and the nature of the spyware industry; how surveillance technology is used to violate fundamental human rights, and more particularly how it is related to enforced disappearances; and we provide recommendations for states, spyware companies, other businesses, civil society, and the Working Group.

The Citizen Lab is thrilled to welcome Vuyo Kwakweni, recipient of the 2022 Reset Scholarship in Social Media and Democracy.

In an exclusive with New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow, Citizen Lab researchers reveal the presence of Pegasus spyware on the phones of 65 activists, politicians, and civil society groups in Catalonia.

We confirm that in 2020 and 2021 we observed and notified the government of the United Kingdom of multiple suspected instances of Pegasus spyware infections within official UK networks, including the Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.