The undersigned civil society organizations, companies, and cybersecurity experts, including members of the Global Encryption Coalition, urge the federal government to withdraw Bill C-22, An Act respecting lawful access.
The Supporting Authorized Access to Information Act, will force services to install “technical capabilities” to access Canadians’ communications and sensitive data. The consensus among cybersecurity experts is clear. There is no way to provide backdoor access to encrypted data and communications without compromising the privacy and security of millions of law-abiding citizens.
It may be true that Canada is behind some of its peers when it comes to spying on its own citizens and making secure communications illegal, but this bill would go beyond “catching up” and would put our country near the top of the list of the worst offenders among countries normally thought of as democracies.