🇨🇦 Canada's Bill C-2 just joined a disturbing global pattern.
Dubbed the "Strong Borders Act," Bill C-2 gives Canadian ministers sweeping power to issue secret orders forcing any electronic service provider (from telecoms to encrypted messaging apps) to grant government access to private communications. The bill could force companies to build "technical capabilities" for surveillance, potentially creating backdoors into end-to-end encryption.
Sound familiar? It should.
🇬🇧 Online Safety Bill (2025): The government secretly ordered Apple to break iCloud encryption globally, forcing Apple to disable Advanced Data Protection for all 35 million UK users. Signal threatened to exit the country rather than compromise its security.
🇪🇺 Chat Control (2025): Still under debate, this proposal would mandate client-side scanning of ALL private communications before encryption, essentially installing government surveillance on every device. Over 500 scientists have called it "technically infeasible" and a "danger to democracy."
🇦🇺 TOLA (2018): The world's first law forcing companies to build decryption capabilities. One analysis estimated adverse economic impact of AU$1 billion due to lost trust in Australian tech.
🇺🇸 EARN IT ACT strips legal protection from encrypted platforms and forces messages scanning. Repeatedly reintroduced despite massive opposition.
THE PLAYBOOK IS CLEAR:
1Introduce legislation as "child protection"
2Ignore technical experts who say it's dangerous and unworkable
3Use emotional arguments to bypass rational debate
4Vote during crisis moments or procedural windows
5 Implement gradually to avoid mass backlash
Encryption isn't a luxury. It's the last line of defense between your private life and total surveillance. Once it's gone, we won't get it back.
Europe can still choose differently.
But the window is closing.
