Rate My Professor Ron Deibert

Ron Deibert is Professor of Political Science and Director of the Citizen Lab at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy, University of Toronto. He holds a BA and PhD from the University of British Columbia and an MA from Queen’s University. As Director of the Citizen Lab, Deibert oversees interdisciplinary research on the intersection of information and communication technologies, human rights, and global security. The laboratory has produced more than 120 reports on topics including cyber espionage, commercial spyware, Internet censorship, and digital surveillance, with findings cited extensively in major international media outlets and by policymakers.

Deibert co-founded the OpenNet Initiative and the Information Warfare Monitor projects and contributed to the development of the Psiphon censorship circumvention service. He is the author of Parchment, Printing, and Hypermedia: Communications in World Order Transformation (1997), Black Code: Surveillance, Privacy, and the Dark Side of the Internet (2013), RESET: Reclaiming the Internet for Civil Society (2020), and Chasing Shadows: Cyber Espionage, Subversion and the Fight for Democracy (2025). He has received the University of Toronto’s Outstanding Teaching Award, the President’s Impact Award, appointment to the Order of Ontario (2013), and appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada (2022). Deibert serves on multiple editorial boards and advisory committees related to digital rights and security.