RESEARCH → FOCUS AREA

Law & Policy

Analyzing laws and policies related to digital technology and their impacts on human rights.

We examine laws and proposed legislation alongside the policies and practices of government actors, and conduct legal analysis on the business practices and policies of commercial actors, through a human rights lens.

We pay particular attention to laws and policies related to digital technologies framed around national security and law enforcement interests, which can jeopardize the liberties and human rights of civil society. This includes proposed bills, draft policies, and case law related to encryption, “lawful interception,” algorithmic policing, telecommunications policy, biometric surveillance, cross-border data-sharing, and related areas. At a global level, we also examine international agreements that implicate digital privacy, and their impact on domestic or international commitments to human rights.

LATEST RESEARCH

research → Report

Unspoken Implications

A Preliminary Analysis of Bill C-2 and Canada’s Potential Data-Sharing Obligations Towards the United States and Other Countries

Our preliminary analysis of Bill C-2 situates the legislation within the context of existing research by the Citizen Lab about two potential data-sharing treaties that are most relevant to the new proposed powers being introduced in Bill C-2: the Second Additional Protocol to the Budapest Convention (2AP) and the CLOUD Act. Both of which carry significant constitutional and human rights risks.

June 16, 2025

Law & Policy
research → Report

Canada-U.S. Cross-Border Surveillance Negotiations Raise Constitutional and Human Rights Whirlwind under U.S. CLOUD Act

Legal researchers Cynthia Khoo and Kate Robertson warn that a Canada-U.S. CLOUD agreement would extend the reach of U.S. law enforcement into Canada’s digital terrain to an unprecedented extent, and that if signed, this agreement would effectively allow U.S. police to demand personal data directly from any provider of an “electronic communication service” or “remote computing service” in Canada, so long as it had some ties to the U.S.

February 24, 2025

Law & Policy
research → Report

Finding You

The Network Effect of Telecommunications Vulnerabilities for Location Disclosure

This report provides a comprehensive guide to geolocation-related threats sourced from 3G, 4G, and 5G network operators. Case studies, references, examples, and evidence are provided to give a complete and contextual understanding of mobile network-based location tracking in order to formulate policies and actions that protect civil society from current and future geolocation surveillance.

October 26, 2023

Law & Policy