Civil liberties groups, legal experts and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce have been sounding the alarm for months on the privacy and cybersecurity issues contained in the Carney government’s Lawful Access Act, or Bill C-22. In a not-so-surprising twist, American lawmakers have now also added their voice to those warning about the bill.
Bill C-22’s Groundhog Day: Why the Government’s Dismissal of Signal, Apple and the U.S. Congress Concerns Runs Back the Disastrous Online News Act Playbook - Michael Geist
Secure messaging service Signal yesterday became the latest company to warn that Bill C-22, the lawful access bill, could force it to leave the Canadian market rather than comply with provisions it says would compromise its end-to-end encryption and create new cybersecurity risks. Signal vice-president Udbhav Tiwari told the Globe and Mail that the company “would rather pull out of the country than be compelled to compromise on the privacy promises we have made to our users.” The comments are part of a steady stream of similar warnings from Apple, Meta, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Cybersecurity Advisors Network, and the chairs of the U.S. House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees. Despite growing concern, the government’s response has been to launch a misleading social media campaign and repeatedly insist that the experts and companies are mistaken.
The Lawful Access Two-Headed Surveillance Monster: How Bill C-22 Went Off the Rails - Michael Geist
The government’s plans for lawful access have gone off the rails. In recent days, Signal has warned it would pull out of the Canadian market rather than comply with Bill C-22. Windscribe, the Toronto-headquartered VPN provider, has said it would relocate its headquarters out of Canada and NordVPN has warned it would consider following suit. Apple and Meta have both raised public concerns about the bill’s effect on encryption and cybersecurity. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Cybersecurity Advisors Network, civil liberties groups, and a long line of legal and security experts have all called for changes. The chairs of the U.S. House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees have written to Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree warning that the bill threatens U.S. national security and the integrity of cross-border data flows. Even the bill’s own oversight body, the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency, has told the SECU committee it does not have the access it needs for effective oversight. If the government thought it could push through the bill largely unnoticed, it has been proven painfully wrong as there are now trade frictions with the U.S., the prospect of leading companies exiting the Canadian market, and weaker cybersecurity protections for ordinary users. How did Canada’s lawful access plan go awry so quickly?
Stop Bill C-22!
🚨 Bill C-22 forces every Canadian internet provider, messaging app & cloud service to build surveillance backdoors and store a year of your data. Foreign state hackers exploited similar legislation in the US. Shut the backdoor: https://openmedia.org/StopC22 #BillC22
Lawful-access bill could threaten encryption, deter investment, Chamber of Commerce warns
Bill would require telecoms, internet companies to change systems to give surveillance, monitoring capabilities to authorities
Home - Canadian Constitution Foundation
Bill C-22 seeks to expand government surveillance and turn your cell phone into a tracking device.
Canada’s Bill C-22 and the security cost of collecting more data
Canada’s Bill C-22 risks forcing secure services to retain more metadata and build access systems. Tailscale explains why the bill should change.
Digital Driver’s Licenses Threaten to Create a “Great Internet Lockdown” | ACLU
Two trends threaten the creation of a bureaucratic wall between Americans and the information they have a right to access
Signal warns it would pull out of Canada if made to comply with lawful access bill
Secure messaging service says it will not weaken its encryption, privacy safeguards for government
Why the U.S. is noticing this Canadian security bill | CBC News
A Liberal government bill that proposes giving police and spies easier access to information during investigations has fallen into the crosshairs of U.S. tech giants and two American congressional committees, threatening to become the latest irritant in the Canada-U.S. relationship.
Apple Warns Canada's Bill C-22 Could Force Encryption Backdoors
Apple and Meta have opposed a Canadian bill that the companies say could force them to create backdoor access to encrypted user data, should it pass through the country's parliament. Proposed by Canada's ruling Liberal Party, Bill C-22 contains provisions that could be similar to a UK data access provision order sent to Apple last year, depending on how they are implemented.
Stop Bill C-22. Stop surveillance in Canada.
Make your voice heard! Explore the Justice Centre's petitions advocating for Canadian rights and freedoms. Join fellow citizens in supporting important causes.
Online Safety Bills Are Fueling a New Wave of Internet Censorship
State and federal bills seek to limit minors’ access to social media, but civil liberties advocates warn that the resulting online censorship threatens constitutional rights without delivering real safety.
How (Not) to Write a Privacy Law
After many years of failed starts, proposed information privacy legislation has begun moving forward in both houses of Congress. The docket in the recently ended 116th Congress was crowded, with a number of different proposals jostling for attention and no agreement on which deserved to be the front runner. Even so, as the 117th Congress begins, there is growing inside-the-Beltway consensus on the list of features that a successful bill will need to include. This paper critically assesses those zones of emerging consensus.
Once-in-a-generation moment to protect U.S. Privacy - Irish Council for Civil Liberties
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is considering new privacy rules. The ICCL & Open Markets & TACD make a major submission showing the need for action
Reading the Digital Safety Act with My Mastodon Admin Hat On
Back in 2024, I published a reading of the Online Harms Act from my perspective as an admin of a Mastodon instance. The Online Harms Act was a proposed Canadian bill meant to regulate social media to prevent harmful content, particularly hate speech and child abuse materials. While the Online Harms Act ultimately did not come to pass (due the proroguing of Parliament later that year), the Carney Liberal government is bringing much of it back with a new Digital Safety Act. In this post, I am also giving the new Act a look from the perspective of a Mastodon admin.
The SCREEN Act Threatens Privacy Far Beyond Adult Websites
Update: On August 5, 2026, The Senate Commerce Committee voted 15-13 to advance this bill, but the bill did not advance because of a lack of Senators in attendance. EFF continues to oppose the bill.
