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Canada's C-22 Surveillance Bill Triggers Signal Pullout Threat — A Cautionary Tale for South Asian Encryption Debates Male / Colombo bureau — A fight over encryption in Ottawa is being watched closely from Indian Ocean capitals where the same arguments, almost word for word, are already on the table.
Canada's proposed Lawful Access Act, known as Bill C-22, would force telecom carriers, internet platforms and messaging apps to build wiretap-ready surveillance hooks for police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and to warehouse user metadata for up to a year.
Signal has told Canadian reporters it will exit the country rather than weaken its promise to users. Apple has hinted it could strip privacy features the way it did in the United Kingdom last year.
For readers in Delhi, Dhaka, Islamabad, Colombo and Male, this is not a distant North American story.
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