Google joins privacy backlash and warns Canada Bill C-22 could ‘break end-to-end encryption’ and create a ‘surveillance infrastructure’
Publish Date: 2026-05-27 10:07:00
Source Domain: www.techradar.com
- Google and Apple are urging Canadian lawmakers to provide explicit protections for end-to-end encryption
- Tech giants warn that, as it stands, Canada’s Bill C-22 could weaken overall user security
- The proposed law has already faced severe backlash from Meta, Signal, VPN providers, and privacy advocates
Google and Apple have intensified their opposition to Canada’s controversial Bill C-22, warning that the proposed legislation could force them to compromise end-to-end encryption and create massive cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
What’s also known as the Lawful Access Act — proposed by Canada’s ruling Liberal Party and is currently being debated in the House of Commons — aims to give law enforcement greater access to data to investigate security threats. However, tech companies fear that the legislation grants the government unchecked authority to issue secret orders without judicial oversight.
For everyday citizens, the stakes couldn’t be higher. If the bill passes in its current form, the devices and secure messaging apps users rely on daily could be secretly compromised. To protect your digital footprint from government overreach, utilizing the best VPNs or encrypted messaging apps is becoming an increasingly essential step. But even the strongest privacy tools struggle if underlying device encryption is legally mandated to feature a backdoor.
You may like
In testimony before the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security, representatives from both Google and Apple pushed lawmakers to add explicit protections for encryption.
“Secret orders are out of step with other democratic countries and would severely restrict companies’ ability to be transparent with users about how their data is protected,” said Jeanette Patell, director for government affairs and public policy in Canada for Google — as reported by Reuters.
The ongoing backlash against Bill C-22
The proposed legislation would…
