Using the AMI approach, partners have launched projects around the world, including in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, and South Korea. These projects focused on making data access requests to telecommunications companies in each country, led by a local researcher and a team of volunteers. Every country has specific laws, regulations, and corporate mechanisms that present unique challenges and opportunities in accessing data, but the results of each provide insights into the larger ecosystem of data access. 

This report presents results from a series of research projects that measured responses to personal data requests from telecommunication companies and Internet Service Providers across jurisdictions in Asia including Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Overall, the projects found responses from telecoms were incomplete and in some cases did not follow what is required by law.

Canadians can learn new things about your personal data by requesting access to it from companies. What can be found out varies by company and there can be some hurdles to overcome before you get access.

Citizen Lab Research Fellow Andrew Hilts was interviewed by the Globe and Mail regarding Access My Info’s fitness tracker report, titled “Every Step You Fake,” in which the privacy and security safeguards of eight popular wearable fitness tracker devices was studied.

Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert authored an op-ed for CBC News detailing the newly revamped Access My Info tool, which now includes fitness trackers and dating applications. The tool allows Canadians to exercise their right to inquire about the information that technology companies store about them.

Access My Info (AMI), a web tool used to submit disclosure requests to companies on the data they collect and share with third parties about their customers, has now been expanded to submit disclosure requests to fitness tracker companies and dating applications.

Access My Info (AMI), a web tool used to submit disclosure requests to telecommunications providers on the data they collect and share with third parties about their customers, launched in Hong Kong.

March 30-April 1 – San Francisco, California

A “secret network” launched by the Canadian federal government last year, costing millions of dollars to taxpayers, came under close scrutiny following a suspected hack. Citizen Lab Postdoctoral Fellow Christoper Parsons explains the possibilities behind the leaking of the document.

A new article in the Winston Report by Christopher Parsons and Andrew Hilts addresses issues that Canadians may face when attempting to request the personal information organizations keep on them.