Citizen Lab's Ron Deibert on the Spyware Industry: Who Watches the Watchers?
The Citizen Lab noted on June 12 that its director, Ron Deibert, spoke to the newspaper Politiken about the commercial spyware industry.
At a glance
- Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert gave an interview to Politiken about the spyware industry, published via a June 12 Citizen Lab post.
- Deibert described the spyware industry as "a symptom that something is fundamentally wrong."
VERDICT — CONFIRMED
Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert spoke to the Danish newspaper Politiken about the commercial spyware industry, per a June 12 post on the Citizen Lab's website.
Deibert called the industry "a symptom that something is fundamentally wrong," per the post. He said "turning surveillance into a business model" is "the core of the problem and the beginning of a vicious cycle ending in the erosion of our democracy."
The post documents Deibert's recent media appearances in European outlets discussing commercial surveillance and the research of the Citizen Lab, the University of Toronto-based group known for its forensic work on mercenary spyware.
The remarks are on the record via the Citizen Lab's own account of the interview; the underlying Politiken piece was not reviewed, and no responses from spyware vendors appear in the available material.
Key facts on file
- Citizen Lab director Ron Deibert gave an interview to Politiken about the spyware industry, published via a June 12 Citizen Lab post.
- Deibert described the spyware industry as "a symptom that something is fundamentally wrong."
