Professor Ron Diebert Featured in the Media
The December 2009 issue of Toronto Life magazine features 25 World Changing Ideas from the Smartest Torontonians and 10 of them - 40 per cent - come from research done by professors based at U of T and its teaching hospitals.
Professor Ron Deibert , director of Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies , and his team grabbed the top spot on the list for Psiphon, a tool that allows broad Internet access to citizens of countries where use is censored by the government without the fear of their being detected, since the tool uses safe servers outside their home countries. Toronto Life hails them for making "Internet use is a human right."
Click here to read the full article.
Call for Proposals for Summer Schools on Biometrics
The IEEE Biometrics Council strives to promote educational activities all over the world in the area of biometric theory, systems and applications.
If you are interested in the technical co-sponsorship (no financial responsibility) and/or in a grant from the IEEE Biometrics Council for your Summer School, please submit your proposal to prof. Vincenzo Piuri, Vice President for Education of the IEEE Biometrics Council, by December 15, 2009, by email at vincenzo.piuri@unimi.it .
Include title, dates, venue, main organizer, scope, motivation for the request of technical co-sponsorship and/or grant. In the case of request for grant, please include also the description of the use of the grant.
Smarter Sleuthing can Save our Online Privacy
Police don't need intrusive powers to tackle modern Internet crime – there's a new paradigm, says Ron Deibert (The Globe and Mail)
Click here to read the full article.
Call for Tutorials on Biometrics for IEEE Conferences
The IEEE Biometrics Council aims to disseminate fundamental and advanced knowledge on biometrics theory and practice at IEEE Conferences on topics for which biometrics may be of interest.
We are creating a list of tutorials, titles and prospective lecturers to be proposed at appropriate IEEE Conferences. If you are interested in suggesting a topic for one of these tutorials, please send a proposal containing the following items: tentative title, lecturer (last and first name, complete affiliation, email), short abstract (5-10 lines).
Proposal should be sent to Prof. Vincenzo Piuri, Vice President for Education of the IEEE Biometrics Council, by December 15, 2009, by email at vincenzo.piuri@unimi.it .
IPSI at the 2009 IEEE Toronto International Conference
On September 27, 2009, Professor Andrew Clement presented the paper "Identity, Privacy and Security Challenges with Ontario’s Enhanced Driver’s Licence" at the 2009 IEEE Toronto International Conference - Science and Technology for Humanity, Proceedings pp. 742-747.
Authors: Brenda McPhail, Krista Boa, Joseph Ferenbok, Karen Louise Smith and Andrew Clement.
The full paper can be read here.
IPSI Now an Institute
On May 27, 2009, The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering established the Identity, Privacy and Security Institute (IPSI) as an EDU:C type of extra-departmental unit. This will allow IPSI to operate more efficiently at The University of Toronto.
Effective immediately, IPSI’s operational name is now: The Identity, Privacy and Security Institute.
Dr. Ann Cavoukian Reappointed for Third Term
IPSI's Advisory Committee Chair, Dr. Ann Cavoukian has been reappointed as Information and Privacy Commissioner for an unprecedented third term. IPSI congratulates the Commissioner on her reappointed. For more details, a press release can be found here .
Privacy and Genetic Research Workshop: March 6, 2009
The Centre for Innovation Law and Policy (CILP) is organizing an invitation-only workshop for March 13, 2009 that would bring together experts working in the areas of privacy and access to information, research ethics, and genetics research to discuss the issues outlined in the project description. The workshop will consist of presentations, commentaries and discussions on the findings of our project and aims to generate ideas for the development of guiding principles on privacy, fair information practices, and biobank governance.
The Privacy and Genetic Research workshop is by invitation only. If you are interested in participating, please contact centre.ilp@utoronto.ca .
Professor Andrew Clement Featured in the Media
Recently, Andrew Clement co-published an article in the Toronto Star about the risks associated with enhanced drivers' licenses (EDLs), which a number of provinces -including Ontario - plan to introduce. EDLs can serve as an alternative to Canadian passports at US border crossings and will be developed according to US Homeland Security standards. Clement and co-writer Colin Bennett from the University of Victoria suggest that "Canadians who value privacy, national sovereignty and good governance would be well advised not to apply for the enhanced card. Instead, for a modest extra $10 a year they would be better off investing in the more secure, more privacy protective and more versatile Canadian passport."
Professor Clement was also recently featured on OMNI News about this topic.
Click here to view the full article.
Breaching Trust
A major investigative report, "Breaching Trust: An analysis of surveillance and security practices on China’s TOM-Skype platform", was recently released by Nart Villeneuve, Psiphon Fellow, the Citizen Lab, at the Munk Centre for International Studies, the University of Toronto. To view this report, click here .
John Markoff of the New York Times has just released an article about the report. To view this article, click here .
Identity Rights Colloquium
IPSI is pleased to be co-sponsoring with the Centre for Innovation Law and Policy Institute for the Study of Law, Technology and Culture, "Identity Rights Colloquium", a event to be held on Friday October 31, 2008 from 9:00 a.m to 2:00 p.m. For more information, please visit our calendar of events .
Surveillance Technique Developed by U of T Professors Recommended for TTC
Dr. Ann Cavoukian, Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner, has recommended that the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) use a surveillance technique designed by University of Toronto professors Karl Martin and Kostas Plataniostis.
This technique uses crytographic coding so that the surveillance information is only viewed by designated persons with authority. The approach also stores object information separately from the background surveillance information and thus allows greater privacy control while maintaining surveillance capabilities.
A detailed report from the commissioners office can be found here .
The complete technical report from Karl Martin and Kostas Plataniostis is available here .
IPSI Public Lecture Series Fall 2008
IPSI is pleased to present its Public Lecture Series, where notable speakers from the identity, privacy and security fields present their work and discuss contemporary issues. For details, please visit our IPSI Public Lecture Series Fall 2008 page.
IPSI 2007-2008 Annual Report
We are excited to announce the release of our IPSI 2007-2008 annual report . It can be downloaded here or for a hard copy please email ipsi@utoronto.ca with your complete mailing address.
Two New Master's Programs in Communications and Information Studies
In Fall of 2007, the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering launched a new Master of Engineering (MEng.) in Communications with a focus on Integrated Security Technologies. The Faculty of Information Studies also launched a Master of Information Studies (MISt.) in Information Sciences with a focus on privacy. A common seminar developed jointly by the Faculties is open to students in both programs.
Seminar on Security, Technology and Policy
Information on the new common graduate seminar on "Security, Technology and Policy" can be found here .
View IPSI 2007-2008 Public Lectures Online
IPSI Public Lectures from Fall 2008 and Fall 2007 can now be viewed online through ePresence, a webcasting solution used to broadcast our Public Lecture Series.