Understanding the Global Surveillance Industry: The Spyware Case Study and Key Concerns for Canadian Companies and Public Bodies

The sale and export of surveillance technology is a growing industry around the world with serious impacts on human rights, such as the rights to privacy and freedom of expression. Canadian companies are participants in this industry, raising important questions regarding human rights due diligence, ethics, and more. This presentation provides an introduction to this global industry and uses the example of spyware—a particularly intrusive form of surveillance which essentially turns your phone into a spy in your pocket—as a case study for discussing some of the key regulatory and other issues arising from the spread of surveillance technology.

Siena Anstis is a Senior Legal Advisor with The Citizen Lab, an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto. Siena’s research focuses on international law, human rights, technology, and migration. Prior to joining Citizen Lab, Siena worked at Morrison & Foerster LLP in New York and clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada and Ontario Court of Appeal. Her recent publications discuss how Canadian internet-filtering technology has been misused by authoritarian regimes and how government procurement processes can inject transparency and accountability into the development of hacking technology.

CPD confirmed: 1 hour substantive

Registration:

• FREE for CAN-TECH Law members
• $25 plus HST: Non-members

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