Now in its fourth year, the $60,000 prize recognizes nonfiction books that advance policy discussions about social, political, economic, and cultural topics that are of relevance to Canadians. The award is funded by the Balsillie Family Foundation as part of a $3 million commitment to supporting Canadian literature through Writers’ Trust.

Wong has written several peer-reviewed articles and chapters that have appeared in The Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and The Conversation. She is author of the award-winning books Internal Affairs: How the Structure of NGOs Transforms Human Rights and The Authority Trap: Strategic Choices of International NGOs.

The jury’s citation called We, The Data “an eye-opening, gripping look at the ways in which humanity is being codified, monitored, and tracked at alarming speed and intensity — in largely unaccountable ways. Understanding how data is being collected, why, and by whom are central to grappling with the legislative protections needed to ensure Canadians continue living with dignity and autonomy. … a highly compelling and original book about the risks to society when the drive to collect data outpaces our capacity to contain it, and how to fix it before it is too late.”

Joining Wong on the shortlist were Gregor Craigie for Our Crumbling Foundation: How We Solve Canada’s Housing Crisis, Christopher Pollon for Pitfall: The Race to Mine the World’s Most Vulnerable Places, and M.G. Vassanji for Nowhere, Exactly: On Identity and Belonging.

The finalists each receive $5,000. The jury chose the shortlisted books from 58 titles submitted by 36 publishers.