April 13-14 – New York City, USA

March 31 – Toronto, Canada

The report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression (“SR on FOE”), David Kaye, regarding the use of encryption and anonymity in digital communications, is now available. The SR on FOE submitted this report to the UN Human Rights Council for consideration during its upcoming 29th session; the report is scheduled for discussion on June 17.

Our report reveals that UC Browser poorly secures data in its English and Chinese language versions for Android.

The hearing focused on the impact of digital surveillance and intrusion systems on human rights in third world countries. McKune spoke on relevant Citizen Lab research and the ways that policy decisions can reflect these findings.

In response to the call for submissions of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression regarding the use of encryption and anonymity in digital communications, the Citizen Lab and independent researcher Collin Anderson have submitted a joint analysis, entitled “The need for democratization of digital security solutions to ensure the right to freedom of expression.”

In an article published on openDemocracy.net, Citizen Lab Senior Legal Advisor Sarah McKune writes about the digital threats that civil society organizations (CSOs) face in carrying out their work, which undermine their privacy and compromise sensitive information. “To address this problem we must expand the terms and scope of the debate, exploring the link between the right to privacy and access to digital security more fully,” said McKune.

The trajectories of the U.S. and Chinese governments on cyber security have officially diverged with the May 19 unsealing of an indictment against five Chinese nationals accused of cyber espionage against U.S. companies.

Our analysis traces Hacking Team’s Remote Control System’s (RCS) proxy chains, and finds that dedicated US-based servers are part of the RCS infrastructure implemented by the governments of Azerbaijan, Colombia, Ethiopia, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, Poland, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and the United Arab Emirates in their espionage and/or law enforcement operations.

Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert and Senior Researcher Sarah McKune wrote an op-ed on the digital arms trade in the 13 March edition of the Ottawa Citizen.