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A U.S.-based lobbying group representing some of the biggest tech companies in the world is calling on the Canadian government to withdraw its lawful access bill — suggesting there could be complications in the trade relationship if it passes.
Bill C-22 promises to give police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) faster and smoother access to information during investigations — something they’ve been requesting for more than a decade as the vast majority of their investigations now depend on digital evidence.
But the bill, often referred to as lawful access legislation, faces a wave of backlash from critics ranging from privacy and civil rights advocates to businesses and a growing list of tech companies.
In a written submission to the parliamentary committee currently studying Bill C-22, the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) — whose members include Amazon, Google and Nvidia, the most valuable publicly traded company in the world — argue that the Canadian legislation would have “extraterritorial reach and increase conflict of law issues for global technology companies.”
The group’s executive vice-president John Miller said the bill would conflict with foreign privacy and data laws, and undermine ongoing negotiations on a U.S.-Canada Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (or CLOUD) Act.
The 2018 CLOUD Act gives the American government the authority to access data from anywhere so long as it’s maintained in a server owned by a U.S. company. Canada and the U.S. have been negotiating a bilateral agreement since 2022, but nothing formal is in place.
“Bill C-22 in its current form, combined with a future U.S.-Canada CLOUD Act, could lead to a situation where U.S. and global technology companies are required to provide data to Canadian authorities under different legal standards, potentially exposing U.S. citizen data to foreign government access without the protections ordinarily required under U.S. law,” notes Miller’s submission, published Thursday by the public safety committee.
“ITI urges Canadian officials to carefully consider these cross-border implications before advancing legislation that could complicate the bilateral digital trade relationship and create conflicts for companies operating in both jurisdictions.”
WATCH | Lawful access bill faces pushback from tech companies, privacy advocates:
Lawful access bill faces pushback from tech companies, privacy advocates
A proposed federal government bill would give police faster access to information during high-stakes investigations, but tech companies and privacy advocates say they’re concerned about government overreach through the lawful access legislation.
In recent years, the U.S. has paid attention when the federal government has introduced legislation targeting social media and technology companies.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer has already targeted Canada’s Online Streaming Act, which attempts to make foreign streaming companies such as Netflix and Disney+ pay into Canadian funds for domestic content production, ahead of the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement review.
CSIS director Daniel Rogers, left, and RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme are seen Oct. 29, 2024. Both agencies are pushing for Bill C-22 to pass. (Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press)
Some of ITI’s other members including Meta and Apple have already gone public with their concerns, notably that Part 2 of the legislation would require them to adapt their systems to make it easier to hand over requested information to security and intelligence officials with a warrant. The bill would also require core providers to retain metadata for up to one year.
Companies impacted by the bill say those demands would force them to create so-called back doors, potentially opening them up to hackers and foreign adversaries.
The encrypted messaging service Signal said last week it might withdraw from Canada if asked to comply with the bill, and a growing list of virtual private network (VPN) services have made similar threats, arguing the legislation would require them to compromise their privacy protections.
Those in favour of the legislation are mounting a campaign to push back against what they see as a “misunderstanding.”
Officials from Public Safety Canada, CSIS and the RCMP have been briefing media this week, stressing that the bill does not seek to break encryption and comes with safeguards including oversight from the Intelligence Commissioner, an independent and quasi-judicial body already tasked with approving or denying key national security activities.
In an interview with CBC this week, Nicole Giles, deputy director of policy and strategic partnerships at CSIS, said the lack of a lawful access regime “will continue to inhibit our ability to keep the country safe.”
“Canada is the only Five Eyes country without a lawful access regime, and that is hugely prohibiting our ability to keep pace with the increasing volume, velocity and variety of threats that are being thrown at us in an environment of incredibly rapid technological change and advances,” she said.
Critics of the bill argue that the United States’ communications assistance law does not include a hold on metadata — defined as data about data — and the European Union has struck down retention attempts.
Those on the other side point to Australia, which mandates that companies retain metadata for up to two years.
Providers not complying with warrants: RCMP union
The RCMP union’s submission to the committee was also published Thursday, pledging support for the bill.
National Police Federation president Brian Sauvé said officers routinely get judicial sign-off for a production order or wiretap authorization, “and the service provider simply cannot, or will not, comply because it has no system to do so.”
“Investigations stall, evidence is lost, victims remain at risk, and offenders go unidentified,” he wrote.
“The bill is not about expanding surveillance. It is about ensuring that when a court authorizes access to digital evidence, investigators can obtain it.”
WATCH | WATCH | Tech giants ‘misinterpreting’ lawful access safeguards: public safety minister::
Tech giants ‘misinterpreting’ lawful access safeguards: public safety minister
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said ‘we have to better inform’ Canadians and all stakeholders about Bill C-22, Ottawa’s proposed lawful access legislation, which faces pushback from U.S. tech companies.
The debate is expected to ramp up when the House of Commons returns next week after a two-week break.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree’s office has said it hopes the bill is passed by summer.
