“We have for now close to well over two decades [of being] subject to this machinery of capitalism – the whole machine is designed to extract as much data out of you as possible,” Deibert says, noting how companies may misuse personal data. “The more serious human rights violations come from when governments get involved in this space.”

Founded in 2001 and based at the University of Toronto’s (UofT) Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, the lab blends approaches from political science, computer science, law and other disciplines to research digital technology’s effects on human rights.

Their work ranges from researching freedom of speech suppressions to governmental digital espionage. Deibert, professor of political science at UofT, says the award recognizes his entire team.

“Even though it is addressed to me, I’m one component of a community,” he says. “I’m extraordinarily lucky to be part of a highly ethical and talented group of researchers.”

A worthwhile detour

Deibert’s path to The Citizen Lab resulted from an academic detour. He intended to study Soviet foreign policy at the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) international relations doctoral program, But, as the Cold War ended, his supervisors advised a different focus.

“At first, there was a bit of existential shock for me because I was so passionate about that topic,” Deibert recalls. “But it didn’t take me long to pivot to information technology.”

During the 1990s, he foresaw that the internet and information technology would impact global politics but found the topic hadn’t been investigated. He acquired the necessary skills to research technology and international security.

“I realized that in order to really interrogate the type of questions that I wanted to interrogate and dig up evidence that I knew existed in the technical layers, I needed people with the skills to work with me,” he adds.

Free of corporate or government interests, The Citizen Lab was founded to fulfil this purpose and to research the intersections between cyber security and human rights.

Designed for revenue

According to Deibert, technology, including artificial intelligence, is designed to attract user participation in the “personal data economy” where personal data drives revenue. An example is the use of personal data to create targeted ads.

“The products are designed to be both invasive and addictive,” he explains. “The gratification that comes from seeing a notification or a new email or a mention of something you posted – all of these are basic behavioural psychological techniques that keep you engaged.”

These techniques on smartphones include buzzers, vibrations and lights. Deibert adds that, for this “personal data surveillance economy” to operate, every application needs lower and higher functions. Technology presents the lower functions to users.

“All apps have a higher-level function, which is to gather as much information about you, your device, your location, your social networks, your device ID, in order to put you under surveillance so they can sell you products,” Deibert adds.

Privacy is being eroded by this personal data economy. He advises consumers to consult The Citizen Lab’s Security Planner (part of Consumer Reports’ resources) that provides context-specific advice on securing one’s data. While tools like the Security Planner are useful, Deibert advocates for government regulations, hoping for laws on oversight of technology companies.

“In the digital space, for many, many years, internet companies have operated largely in a vacuum without any regulations,” he says. “Most of these companies are black boxes; we don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes with their data.”

Established in 1993, the Nora and Ted Sterling Prize recognizes the importance of controversial ideas. Past recipients include public speaker, author and retired family physician Gabor Maté (2024) and Alexandra Lysova (2022), researcher of male domestic violence victims.

“I think it’s good to have recognition for work that is controversial, we have a lot of bad people in the world who don’t like what we do,” Deibert adds. “So, if there’s public recognition of the work, it feels like we’re doing the right thing.”

A ceremony and conversation will take place Nov. 27 at SFU Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue.

For more information on The Citizen Lab, see citizenlab.ca

For more information on the Nora and Ted Sterling Prize, see www.sfu.ca/vpacademic/awards/nora-and-ted-sterling-prize.html