Canada Willing to Address Worries About Encryption, Privacy Risk in Digital Bill
Canada Willing to Address Worries About Encryption, Privacy Risk in Digital Bill
Publish Date: 2026-05-27 17:40:00
Source Domain: www.marketscreener.com
By Paul Vieira
OTTAWA–Canada said it is willing to address worries raised by some of the world’s biggest technology companies about proposed legislation to give police access to information stored on digital devices.
Senior executives from Apple and Google told Canadian lawmakers this week a bill making its way through the parliament puts citizens’ privacy and digital security in jeopardy because it might compel companies to change their products to allow invasive surveillance capabilities. U.S. lawmakers, civil-liberties groups and privacy-law experts have also criticized the legislation.
“We look forward to working in a collaborative manner to ensure that we listen and respond to some of the concerns that have been expressed,” said Gary Anandasangaree, Canada’s Public Safety Minister. “We will respond in kind and ensure the bill … will go forward in a manner that protects” Canadians’ rights.
Speaking to reporters, Anandasangaree dismissed the warnings from Apple and Google that the bill would create so-called back doors to access encrypted data. “I believe there’s a number of areas of misinformation,” he said, adding the bill was “never meant to breach encryption … We will clarify it in the bill.”
He also challenged the technology companies to explain to Canadians exactly how they protect their customers’ data. “There’s no transparency on what type of privacy that is being protected.”
Signal, the encrypted messaging service, said it would rather pull its operations out of Canada than comply with the bill’s requirements.
Canadian officials have argued the measures give Canadian authorities modern tools to deter criminal activity unfolding in a global digital environment, and brings the country up to speed with other developed-world jurisdictions.
Write to Paul Vieira at [email protected]
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
05-27-26 1739ET
