Liberals to improve protection for encryption in police data interception bill after fierce criticism

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The minister said Wednesday that the government would set a “clear definition” of the types of metadata to be retained, which is currently undefined in the bill. But he said he would not be changing the “up to one year” retention time.

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“We will clarify what metadata is. It does not imply that we are looking for backdoor ways of collecting information,” he said.

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Finally, the minister noted he was looking at legislating compensation for companies who have to put in place data interception or storage capabilities due to the bill, such as telecommunications providers.

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Tech giants such as Apple, Meta and Google and many other encrypted services providers such as messaging platform Signal and VPN provider NordVPN have aggressively criticized Bill C-22 for undermining encryption and forcing them to create a “backdoor” for police.

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Anandasangaree was visibly irritated at the firms on Wednesday and told reporters that they should look inside themselves first when discussing data privacy.

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“We’re living in a world where big tech, whether it is Apple, Google, or the range of other big tech companies, are operating without any type of accountability, without any type of protection of privacy,” Anandasangaree said, visibly irritated.

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“So, when we talk about privacy, there’s a real conversation to be had as to what that entails. So the companies that are coming forth and… talking about privacy, talking about privacy protection, talking about vulnerabilities, (had) better step up and provide their path to how they’re protecting the privacy rights of Canadians,” he added.

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He pointed to the fact that many email providers use data from those messages to serve advertisements to users, or that his car tracks his location and feeds that back to the maker.

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“My point is that there’s no transparency on what type of privacy that is being protected” by tech companies, he said.

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In a subsequent interview with National Post, Anandasangaree watered down some of his criticism of tech giants, but maintained that there are many “misunderstandings” about what his bill does and doesn’t do.

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On the same day, the leaders of the Conservatives, NDP and Green Party all lambasted the Liberals’ bill, arguing that it’s textbook government overreach.

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National Post

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