The Citizen Lab

Why the sudden about-face on encryption? Look to Trump’s recently appointed attorney general and the concerted effort of our Five Eyes allies. t.co/gC5zAcZyf1

Adopting AI technologies in immigration systems without building in human rights principles will only put marginalized and under-resourced communities at higher risk. t.co/cm4ml4mmrW t.co/yet9nW8m13

"Far from humouring the irresponsible choices of our allies, our government should be championing secure communications and committed to making Canada a haven for innovation and democracy." @caparsons @tamir_i t.co/gC5zAcZyf1

Join @RonDeibert, @KAlexaKoenig and @ShanthiKalathil as they discuss contemporary and emerging challenges in digital technologies and human rights. Registration details: t.co/GhOiUCW1sX t.co/f9IZpjb38U

With powerful spyware, such regimes can, with greater facility and on a larger scale, target human rights defenders, political dissidents, and refugees far outside their borders. t.co/mvpDnO5cx6

In the days leading up to the 30th anniversary of June 4, YY, a popular live streaming platform in mainland China, updated its keyword blacklists with content focused on Democracy Movement related memorials and activism in Hong Kong. t.co/g2suZjuhQd

Canada’s Minister of Public Safety (@RalphGoodale) and his Five Eyes colleagues have argued that backdoor access to encrypted products would keep Canadians safe. In reality, it would put us all at risk. t.co/DDsKH8Z664

“Our research shows there is a crisis in civil society because of the abuse of commercial spyware”- @RonDeibert t.co/YyxNP2lnGH

If you study #disinformation, you should bookmark the annotated bibliography assembled by @gabriellelim: it gives readers a foundational understanding of the immense amount of work that has been done on digital disinformation and where future research may be heading. t.co/KnwbsH2Oiw

“Authorities still have to be able to enunciate they have a reason to intrude upon someone’s privacy... And so having an automated system that’s perpetually scanning the entirety of everything would probably run afoul of that.” @caparsons t.co/F61EwH4Pye

If you're planning on watching this Sunday's rebroadcast of the @60Minutes segment about NSO Group (featuring @RonDeibert and @billmarczak), here's a round-up of some relevant research:

Senior research associate @caparsons says data could be used to improve broader facial recognition systems, potentially being deployed to track protesters or political dissidents t.co/3FNFIBKUOg

While appearing on @60Minutes last spring, NSO Group's CEO had ample opportunity to disprove our evidence-based claims of abuse of his company's spyware. Instead, he offered this insight: "Don't believe newspapers." Watch the episode again this Sunday. t.co/0qGzsR5Sm5

Encryption policy thread👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾

Excited to have @joana_varon and @ptaguilera lead this workshop! 🙌🏾

The murder of Jamal Khashoggi is directly linked to spyware meant to target criminals, demonstrating an abuse of power in a market without consequence. And in the absence of any meaningful action, this won't be the last lethal use of such technology. t.co/l0dLTyE6HX

ICYMI: "You don’t necessarily try to change other people's opinions. You try to change their perception of other people's opinions."- @abulkhaezuran t.co/QGbipD1KJ3

"It is long past time for us all to recognize that the continued failure to address this growing emergency implicates the very core of liberal democracy."- @sienaanstis @RonDeibert @jsrailton t.co/l0dLTyE6HX

延续之前针对微信朋友圈图片过滤技术的研究，我们分析了微信如何在聊天功能中实现实时图片过滤 t.co/dvk8K9a3p4

Too busy to read the entirety of our latest analysis of @WeChatApp image filtering? Just want the highlights? We've got you covered: t.co/PPXcVa95sK

NEW REPORT: (Can’t) Picture This 2: An Analysis of WeChat's Realtime Image Filtering in Chats t.co/2s8yQJkw5P

"Many June 4 related posts on Weibo that are censored include information on the event supported by validated sources, including journalistic coverage, video footage, photographs, books, archives, and documents." @globalvoices @Weiboscope @JMSCHKU t.co/J4z2S2Bl2q

Using AI in immigration decisions has real world impacts. How can your immigration application be affected? #BotsAtTheGate t.co/4r5kNjz2aj

Continued correspondence with investors in Novalpina and NSO Group. "We are sure that your public sector investors would want to have confidence that their investments are dealt with according to high ethical standards." t.co/BCxjVNoVzv

China Is Forcing Tourists to Install Text-Stealing Malware at its Border t.co/M7DgmA8xBT via @vice

Read "The Dangerous Effects of Unregulated Commercial Spyware" by @citizenlab: t.co/mvpDnO5cx6

Some apps can be repurposed for malicious purposes while some are actively marketed as stalkerware. Either way, they can be—and often are—abused. Our latest NetAlert comic by @jasonli explains t.co/erwUE6uQxY