Google Policy Fellowship - Canada

Google Policy Fellowship (Canada) 2017

A unique opportunity to spend the summer with one of Canada's leading technology policy research centres.

Program overview

The Google Policy Fellowship (Canada) program offers students, researchers, and practitioners interested in Internet and technology policy the opportunity to spend the summer contributing to the public dialogue on these issues, and exploring future academic and professional interests.

Fellows will have the opportunity to work at two of Canada’s premier research groups at the forefront of debates on broadband and content regulation, copyright and creativity, consumer privacy, government surveillance, data security, data innovation, free expression and more.

Fellows will be assigned a lead mentor at their host organizations and will have the opportunity to work with several senior staff members over the course of the summer. Fellows will be expected to make substantive contributions to the work of their organization, including conducting policy research and analysis, drafting reports and white papers, attending workshops and conferences, and participating in other research activities.

Who should apply?

We’re looking for people who are passionate about technology, and want to spend the summer diving headfirst into Internet policy in an applied setting. Students from all majors and degree programs who possess the following qualities are encouraged to apply:

• Demonstrated or stated commitment to Internet and technology policy
• Excellent academic / professional records, subject matter expertise
• First-rate analytical, communications, research, and writing skills
• Ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and efficiently, and to work smartly and resourcefully in a fast-paced environment

Fellows will receive a bursary of 10,000 CAD.

Both host organizations are strongly committed to diversity within our respective communities and we strongly encourage applications from racialized persons / persons of colour, women, Indigenous / Aboriginal People of North America, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ persons, and others who will enrich our discourse by ensuring it is the product of a diversity of perspectives.

Program timeline?

Applications to the Canada Fellowship Program must be received by end of day on Friday, April 28, 2017. The fellowship will cover 10 weeks over the course of the summer months, with specific start and end dates to be coordinated with the host organization.

A Unique Opportunity

As a Google Policy Fellow, I had the opportunity to work for cutting-edge technology lawyers, policy analysts and technologists — both at CIPPIC and from the Citizen Lab. The experience was intensely rewarding, both personally and professionally: I was challenged and engaged, given space to develop my own research interests, and contributed to important work at the intersection of law, policy and technology. I would recommend a Google Policy Fellowship to anyone seriously considering a career in this world or looking to contribute to the development of technology policy debates. - Lex Gill, Google Policy Fellow, 2016

Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC)

The Samuelson-Glushko Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic (CIPPIC) is a legal clinic based at the Centre for Law, Technology & Society (CLTS) at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. Its core mandate is to ensure that the public interest is accounted for in decision-making on issues that arise at the intersection of law and technology. It has the additional mandate of providing legal assistance to under-represented organizations and individuals on law and technology issues, as well as a teaching mandate focused on providing law students high quality experience and practical training in a law and technology setting.

CIPPIC adopts a multi-lateral approach to advancing its mandate, which involves placing objective research and analysis before key political, regulatory and legal decision-makers. This regularly includes providing expert testimony before parliamentary committees, participating in quasi-judicial regulatory proceedings, strategic intervention at all levels of court and involvement in domestic and international Internet governance fora. Substantively, CIPPIC regularly engages with a range of digital rights issues, including privacy, intellectual property, state surveillance, net neutrality, online censorship and consumer protection.

Google policy fellows are integrated into CIPPIC's summer program, which involves working closely with CIPPIC lawyers on researching and drafting CIPPIC outputs. Fellows also participate in CIPPIC's Summer Speaker program, which provides an opportunity to hear from and interact with Canadian technology policy leaders from the private sector, academia, regulatory agencies and the government.

CIPPIC attempts to tailor fellowship activities to the interests of the fellow, taking into account organizational priorities and commitments.

Citizen Lab, University of Toronto

The Citizen Lab is a research laboratory based at the Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto. Our research focuses on the intersection of information communications technologies, global security, and human rights.

At the Citizen Lab we believe that impartial, evidence-based, peer-reviewed research on information controls will help advocacy and policy engagement on an open and secure Internet. We conduct our research through a mixed methods approach that combines technical techniques from information security and network measurement with policy and legal analyses and field research.

Fellowship focus areas

Each year we tailor the Google Policy Fellowship to the individual fellow to match his/her interests and strengths with current projects at the Citizen Lab. In general, we are open to students from a range of backgrounds including law, policy, social sciences (e.g, political science, sociology, international relations, area studies etc), and computer science. Above all we seek team players who are dedicated, diligent, open minded to new perspectives, and eager and willing to learn.

Projects areas in our 2017 portfolio include:

• Measuring Internet filtering and network interference

This area includes developing new tools and methods for network measurement, analyzing national Internet filtering systems, and correlating network interference with political events (e.g., elections, protests, conflicts, etc).

• Targeted malware attacks against civil society

This area focuses on investigating politically motivated targeted malware campaigns against civil society groups. Specifically, this area involves reverse engineering malware, mapping attack infrastructure, tracking malware development, and linking contextual information to technical data.

• Privacy and security of apps and social media

Projects include uncovering censorship and surveillance in popular apps and social media platforms (e.g, chat apps, microblogs, etc), and evaluating the privacy and security of popular consumer apps (e.g., browsers, fitness trackers, etc). We are particularly interested in widely used apps and platforms that are understudied by security researchers. The goal of this work is to help users make more informed decision about the technologies they use.

• Corporate and public transparency

Projects in this area include developing software platforms for empowering citizens to exercise their rights to data protection and access requests, and analyzing the systems, policies, and practices of telecommunication and Internet companies.

This fellowship is not supervised by a licensed lawyer.

Application Process & Details

Your application package, consisting of a cover letter, C.V., and copies of all academic transcripts (originals are not required), must be received by midnight on Friday, April 28, 2017. Please direct your applications to jobs@citizenlab.ca (for Citizen Lab applications) and/or to internship@cippic.ca (for CIPPIC applicants). Candidates may be asked to participate in a short follow up telephone interview or to provide a writing sample.

About the Google Policy Fellowship (Canada) program

The Google Policy Fellowship (Canada) program offers students, researchers and practitioners interested in Internet and technology policy the opportunity to spend the summer working on these issues at public interest organizations in Canada.

Important dates

Applications to the Canada Fellowship Program must be received by end of day on Friday, April 28, 2017.The fellowship will cover 10 weeks over the course of the summer months, with specific start and end dates to be coordinated with the host organization.

Eligibility

Are there any age restrictions on participating?

Yes. You must be 18 years of age or older by January 1, 2017 to be eligible to participate in the Google Policy Fellowship program in 2017.

Are there citizenship requirements for the Fellowship?

You must be eligible and authorized to work in Canada. The host organizations cannot provide guidance or assistance on obtaining the necessary documentation to meet this criteria.

Host organizations

What is Google’s relationship with the host organizations?

Google provides the funding support for the program. The host organization is responsible for reviewing candidates and selecting fellows, and for providing full supervision of the fellow. Google and the host organizations are not partners or affiliates. The host organizations do not represent the views or opinions of Google and cannot bind Google legally.

Can I apply to more than one host organization?

You are welcome to apply to more than one host organization.