The Liberal government announced a new digital surveillance legislation. This bill hands more power to the cops and intelligence agents so they can keep tabs on criminals or terror suspects online.
The government insists it’s all about keeping people safe, not about snooping on just anyone in Canada. But critics are already expressing concerns.
Canada’s latest crack at lawful access to criminals’ data
Canada’s Justice Minister, Sean Fraser, together with the Public Safety Minister, Gary Anandasangaree, introduced Bill C-22 on March 12. The aim is to modernize police methods for monitoring suspected criminals via social media, artificial intelligence technologies, and digital communication.
It marks the government’s second attempt at pushing such legislation after last spring’s Bill C-2 faced heavy backlash. Civil liberty groups said that the version went too far. But the new bill tries to strike a balance.
Speaking about the bill on Thursday, Anandasangare said it’s not about monitoring people going about their daily lives. But “about keeping Canadians safe” online.
What power does Bill C-22 grant the police?
Officials explained the limits of Bill C-22 in a technical briefing. It does not allow cops to scroll through your private messages or browsing history.
Police can only access basic information like IP addresses that’ll let them identify a suspect. Private conversations are off limits. Also, they can compel telecoms like Rogers and Bell to give a simple yes or no answer about whether a suspected criminal uses their services.
Obtaining email addresses or home addresses still requires a warrant. And officers must convince the court that a crime happened or will happen before they can receive such approvals.
Real-time tracking of suspects phones
Already, CSIS can get warrants to track a suspect’s phone location, but the providers don’t have to maintain that tracking capability. Bill C-22 changes that. It allows the government to create rules that force ‘core providers’ like telecoms, satellite companies, etc., to build systems that can track users geographically.
These specific provisions are part of a broader overhaul of Canadian privacy laws expected this week, which will address everything from law enforcement access to corporate data handling practices.
Why does it have that provision? Currently, agents sometimes need to physically follow terror suspects. And the cost of doing so is huge, limiting how many operations they can handle. Tracking the suspects digitally solves that problem.
In addition, this change helps emergency services find people who are injured or lost faster than monitoring through cell towers.
Regulations for dealing with tech giants
Canadian police often struggle to get information from foreign tech companies such as OpenAI or Meta. Bill C-22 creates a formal framework for them to request data from these firms.
The bill doesn’t force the companies to share subscriber information, though. Instead, it provides a legal structure that encourages cooperation. Officials say what they’re mainly after is the IP address of a suspect using fake IDs to commit crimes.
Further, the legislation doesn’t require AI or social media platforms to report suspicious activity to Canadian authorities either.
Enforcement of the legislation
The public safety minister now has the power to issue orders compelling any electronic service provider to develop certain capabilities. But they need to first get approval from the Intelligence Commissioner.
Any company that ignores the order will be fined or face other penalties. This helps the government to effectively enforce the new rules.
Fraser said the new legislation is going to aid them in catching up with most of their allies across the world. But importantly, it’ll help officers to catch criminals and terrorists and keep communities safe.
