On Tuesday, November 27, 2018 (05:00 PM – 06:30 PM) Citizen Lab senior researcher Irene Poetranto will be participating in a panel discussion addressing issues of technology-facilitated violence. In partnership with the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, this free event will cut across sectors and challenge participants to think critically about the factors that create environments for gender-based online violence to thrive and consider options for countering these systemic and toxic trends.

What does it mean for technology to be increasingly reliant on biometrics? Do facial recognition practices make room for racial discrimination? With both private companies and states implementing biometric technologies, what human rights issues arise? These are some of the questions addressed in Leandro Ucciferri’s new post with Privacy International, “The Identity We Can’t Change”.

Citizen Lab Senior Research Fellow Bill Marczak has co-authored a paper titled “Social Engineering Attacks on Government Opponents: Target Perspectives,” along with Vern Paxson of UC Berkeley.

This report describes a campaign of targeted spyware attacks carried out by a sophisticated operator, which we call Stealth Falcon. The attacks have been conducted from 2012 until the present, against Emirati journalists, activists, and dissidents.

Citizen Lab Senior Legal Researcher Sarah McKune explores the link between the United Nations’ human rights mechanisms and cybersecurity. The post also features an interview with UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression David Kaye.

Research Fellow Bill Marczak’s Bahrain Watch announced that its #StopTheShipment campaign has succeeded in blocking tear gas exports to Bahrain.

Source: Alissa de Carbonnel, Reuters

Russian authorities searched the Moscow offices of Human Rights Watch and three other prominent advocacy groups on Wednesday, part of a wave of hundreds of inspections that activists say is a campaign to silence criticism of President Vladimir Putin.

Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert and Senior Researcher Sarah McKune authored a new article in CircleID on the often overlooked dimension of cyber threats and cyber espionage: the targeting of civil society actors.

Source: Radio Free Asia

The “forced disappearance” of Lao activist Sombath Somphone is a blow to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), rights groups said Tuesday.