Citizen Lab

The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto, Canada. Founded (and currently directed by) Professor Ronald Deibert, the Citizen Lab focuses on advanced research and development at the intersection of digital media, global security, and human rights.

A “hothouse” that combines the disciplines of political science, sociology, computer science, engineering, and graphic design, the Citizen Lab’s mission is to undertake advanced research and engage in development that monitors, analyses, and impacts the exercise of political power in cyberspace. This mission is executed through collaborative partnerships with research centers, organizations, and individuals around the world, and through a “mixed methods” approach that combines technical analysis with intensive field research, qualitative social science, and legal and policy analysis methods.

Projects are carried out with the assistance and collaboration of multiple private and public partners including the SecDev Group (Ottawa), Psiphon Inc., the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and Palantir Technologies.

The Citizen Lab’s ongoing research network includes the Information Warfare Monitor (2002-2012), the OpenNet Initiative, OpenNet.Asia, OpenNet.Eurasia, Psi-Lab, and the Cyber Stewards Program. The Citizen Lab was a founding partner of the Information Warfare Monitor (2002-2012). The Citizen Lab developed the original design of the Psiphon censorship circumvention software, which spun out of the lab into a private Canadian corporation (Psiphon Inc.) in 2008.

Financial support for the Citizen Lab’s research and development has come from the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Institute, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), The Canada Centre for Global Security Studies, the SecDev Group, Psiphon Inc, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Donner Canadian Foundation, and the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation. The Citizen Lab has benefited by generous donations of software and support from Palantir Technologies and Oculus Info Inc.