In the span of 1 year, Canada has decided to neuter any sort of digital privacy you'd expect from a democratic western nation. C-22 is still not law. If you're a Canadian, please go sign this petition to oppose it. Only 500 signatures are needed for the govt to acknowledge it. ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/P…

Correction: Most Authoritarian. • C-8: Without a court order, govt can cut you off from the internet • C-9: Criminalizes speech online • C-22: Keep a year of metadata of everything you do online • C-34: Requires ID checks to use social media

If the government wants to stop crime, why not focus on the countless break-ins, car thefts, assaults, robberies done by repeat criminals who get a slap on the wrist by judges each time? Why does crime prevention start with stripping all citizens of their privacy rights?

With the upcoming social media ban bill, what the government appears to be saying is: "You are too stupid to use the tools Apple and Google provide FOR FREE to control what your kids have access to online, so we will do it for you." That in itself is insulting, but that's not the true aim of this government. They couldn't give a single solitary hockey puck about that. The true aim is quite simple: Force social networks, and then all other online service providers to ID all users (with 3D face scans). Then: - Bill C-22 forces providers to keep this data for 12 months, and make it available to the government. - Bill C-9 criminalizes what you can and cannot say online, with penalties up to 10 years and seizure of assets. - Bill C-8 allows a random government bureaucrat to cut you off the Internet, no court order needed. Together these bills create a dystopian nightmare Orwell could not even imagine. Here is a scenario. You post criticism of a government policy. Government calls it 'hate material'. C-22 metadata retention flags your activity and hands your identity and metadata (contacts, timings, locations) to authorities. You get prosecuted under C-9, facing up to 10 years in prison and asset seizures. A bureaucrat also issues a C-8 order cutting you off the internet entirely, while you await trial. Not that you care, as you're probably in jail, likely with no bail. This post can likely be labeled "hate speech" given how loose and ambiguous the standards are.

C-22 is a mistake. Not one part of it, the entire direction. ( Same for C-9 ) citizenlab.ca/research/analy…

So now they want to come after the people who simply watch YouTube content. Thankfully the judge denied the warrants for this data. This time. The fact that Homeland Security even thought to ask for this info should scare you. Add in digital ID and a different judge and your real identity could be part of an investigation for merely subscribing to a YouTube channel. Stop giving your ID to websites.

The government’s lawful access bill may push Canada's privacy and security companies out of the country. On this week’s Law Bytes podcast, the CEOs of @Tailscale and @windscribecom speak out on Bill C-22’s metadata retention and encryption backdoor risks. michaelgeist.ca/2026/06/the-…