Dr. Ron Deibert, an international expert on surveillance and privacy, will open the 2014 Information without Borders conference with the keynote address The Internet after Snowden.

Professor of Political Science and Director of the Canada Centre for Global Security Studies and the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Dr. Deibert is also a co-founder and principal investigator of the OpenNet Initiative and Information Warfare Monitor projects. He has published extensively on technology, media, and world politics, and he has advised governments, NGOs, and international organizations on issues of cyber-crime, cyber security, and access to information. With recent reports that Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC) allegedly used information from free wireless internet at Canadian airports to track traveller’s metadata, Dr. Deibert was called upon to engage in discussion about this matter and he continues to be a key resource on the surveillance and privacy subjects for national and international news outlets. In his keynote address at this week’s conference at Dalhousie, Dr. Deibert will outline disturbing reactions and threatening geopolitical developments to the Snowden revelations as states, criminals, and shady companies struggle for advantage in the post-Snowden world.

The Information without Borders conference is organized by students in the Master of Library and Information Studies program at Dalhousie. Further details about the conference are available at this link.

 

 

The Information Without Borders conference will take place on February 13th.  Don’t forget to register for the conference.  To give you a hint of what is to come, here is a synopsis of the opening keynote address:

 

Speaker: Ron Deibert

Title: The Internet after Snowden

A recent stream of documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has shed light on an otherwise highly secretive world of cyber surveillance. Among the revelations, perhaps the most important for the future of global cyberspace are those concerning the way the U.S. government compelled the secret cooperation of American telecommunications, Internet, and social media companies with signals intelligence programs.

For American citizens, the NSA story has touched off soul-searching discussions about the legality of mass surveillance programs, whether they violate the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and whether proper oversight and accountability exist to protect American citizens’ rights. But for the rest of the world, they lay bare an enormous “homefield advantage” enjoyed by the United States — a function of the fact that AT&T, Verizon, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo!, and many other brand name giants are headquartered in the United States. What will the reactions to those revelations be?

Drawing from the first hand accounts of the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab (Munk School of Global Affairs), Deibert will provide an overview of some disturbing reactions and threatening geopolitical developments to the Snowden revelations as states, criminals, and shady companies struggle for advantage in the post-Snowden world.

I encourage all local MLIS and MIM students to attend the 2014 Data Privacy Day at Dalhousie.  This year’s theme is Respecting privacy, safeguarding data, and enabling trust.  Registration is free for all students.  I have attended all the Data Privacy Days and have found them to be very helpful, relevant, and informative.  You may register at: www.dal.ca/dataprivacyday. SIM always has a booth at the affair, so it would be wonderful to have a strong presence from our community.

What: team trivia competition with prizes. Food and drinks are available on site for purchase. Open to all students regardless of PMP participation.

When: Thursday January 23^rd, 5:30 p.m.

Where: Dalhousie University Club dining room, 6259 Alumni Crescent

Please RSVP to dalhousiecla@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Madeleine has been Chief Librarian of Ryerson University since 2007, following eight years in Halifax as Saint Mary’s University Librarian. Prior to that she spent twelve years at Mount Royal College in Calgary as Director of Library Services. From 1980-87 she served in a number of reference and public services roles at Okanagan College in British Columbia. She has always been active in professional associations in a number of volunteer roles, and served as the 2003-4 President of the Canadian Library Association.

Ryerson University has been expanding rapidly in the last decade, and Madeleine is currently engaged in the planning and development of Ryerson’s exciting Student Learning Centre in the heart of downtown Toronto.

Madeleine holds Master’s degrees in Classics from the Universities of Edinburgh and Alberta, as well as an MLS. She is an Associate of the Australian Library and Information Association and a Fellow of the (UK) Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. In 2005 Scarecrow Press published her book, The Romance of Libraries.

Madeleine is a recipient of the 2006 Atlantic Provinces Library Association Merit Award.

Take a look at the blog post on the EIUI website, or listen to the lecture on YouTube.

Join us Nov 26 to hear Dr. Mona Holmlund (Dalhousie University) & Cheryl Avery (University of Saskatchewan) present their lecture on Better Off Forgetting? or Born Digital? Reflections on an Interdisciplinary Archival Practice. http://bit.ly/1a0tFPk

How important to you is the future of libraries and archives? You are invited to join a discussion on Friday, November 8 from 2-4 p.m. in University Hall, in the MacDonald Building.

This event is sponsored by the Royal Society of Canada. Join the conversation! RSVP to janice.slauenwhite@dal.ca