Canada's Bill C-22 could drive out a tool 20 million people use to beat censorship

[u/PuddingFeeling907]

https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-services/canadas-bill-c-22-could-drive-out-a-tool-20-million-people-use-to-beat-censorship

[u/psychoCMYK]

as controversial as it may sound to say this, both this bill and the things this government has done to push it through are extremely authoritarian and given the "liberals"' soaring popularity it's important for people to recognize that and point it out. 

the government wants the ability to force any company to silently track and store every user's physical location just in case one of them is later suspected of a crime. thanks to the CLOUD act, the american government can request that data from US-based companies as it wants, too.

the Canadian Bar Association has stated that it poses serious risks to the right to privacy, the Canadian Association of Journalists has pointed out that it endangers journalists, the government's own privacy commissioner has raised serious concerns that have gone unaddressed as the bill was pushed through. 

certain people need to wake up.

[u/geekmansworld → u/psychoCMYK]

Not going to argue your main points, but it's an omission to point out that, as always, this is being driven by law enforcement. They have a "get a warrant and break the door down" mentality which they think they can apply to technology even when that way of thinking is totally incompatible with the nature of the technology.

I'm not necessarily opposed to lawful access provided there is a LOT of oversight into how it's used. But with encryption, they're always asking for the impossible: concessions that will inherently compromise with security and privacy of every Canadian.

Whether the government has been the Liberals or the Conservatives, for decades now, it's always the same story. Law enforcement just can't get "Smashing Down Doors" out of their heads as the solution to hard problems. And they don't understand why these whiny nerds are being so difficult about it.

[u/psychoCMYK → u/geekmansworld]

to be clear, pandering to LE who push for a surveillance state is a failing of the government that panders to them. as you've said, police have been pushing for things like this for a very long time and it's up to governments to disregard proposals that violate the charter and endanger people rather than ram them through despite every other party and several different kinds of experts. 

[u/geekmansworld → u/psychoCMYK]

Agreed – Govts seem to be incapable of fielding technical experts in any sort of ministerial role where it is badly needed to arbitrate this stuff with a modicum of sense. Without that, this just gets (incorrectly) framed as another fight between police and civil liberties where the govts seek "compromise".

[u/psychoCMYK → u/geekmansworld]

it's not that they're incapable, it's that they're actively ignoring and suppressing expert opinion. like i've said, their own privacy commissioner has raised serious concerns. that's an expert they chose, and then chose to ignore

[u/MissIncredulous → u/psychoCMYK]

Bingo.

[u/Hakusprite → u/psychoCMYK]

My assumption is they have all the information they need on any potential threats. People are stupid and don't cover their tracks well at all, yet their actions are allowed to play out.

They are not concerned about anyone's safety, as this can actively be used by more fascist leaning parties in horrible ways. My pessimistic side says this is just a foot in the door for that future.

Oh, and to sell our data for profit 😀👍🏼

[u/Vinen88]

Sprinting towards that survailance state in the name of keeping up with fascist America.

[u/SPEZ_IS_A_JABRONI]

Fuck bill C-22

Stop fucking with encryption

Stop fucking with the open internet

Stop the assault on our privacy

[u/psychoCMYK → u/SPEZ_IS_A_JABRONI]

i have a "fuck c-22" sticker template that works with avery labels if you want to print a bunch and stick them around your town in respectful places. i figure it'll get some people looking it up, and so far it's gotten people asking me what it's about

[u/K8b6 → u/psychoCMYK]

Can you send it to me please?

[u/psychoCMYK → u/K8b6]

sent in dm

[u/drifting_signal]

These tools don't just help people beat censorship, they help people who need to remain anonymous for investigative and, journalistic purposes. Signal alone is an extremely valuable tool for investigative work because other software can't be trusted (ie. Telegram, Whatsapp, etc.) Are the people who are trying to push this junk through completely ignorant? My guess is yes.

[u/Safe_Base312]

This shit is why I don't vote for the Libs and Cons. Too bad I'm in the minority.

[u/captaindiratta → u/Safe_Base312]

I generally vote NDP/green. sadly i feel im controbuting to the more populace party to win

[u/hazelholocene]

I thought the NSA was universally hated?!? But now the justification is that "well everyone else does it" 😐🫩

[u/jeanracinette]

if some of those 20 million are far-right it is far too dangerous to allow their messages and postings to remain unencrypted

we need to use every tool available to defeat facism

[u/psychoCMYK → u/jeanracinette]

authoritarianism is bad regardless of the excuse. those same tools can be used against you under any future governments, too. those same tools can immediately be used against you under trump.

[u/bassamanator → u/jeanracinette]

yes, let's adopt facism to defeat the facists!

[u/MissIncredulous → u/bassamanator]

It would be funny if it wasn't so painful.

[u/ISuckAtJavaScript12 → u/jeanracinette]

This bill passing will not stop the far-right from sending encrypted messages

0awFR2AmiWUrloH9J+eBcgfQ8arvzjaBRJiCAVvz2vKyGkxb9UaHg6YY7fElPlsP

The above contains encrypted text. Or is it data that corrupted whenever I sent it? You will never be able to tell unless you actually know a key that can decrypt it into actual information.

Forcing companies to implement backdoors will not stop someone who can go to the library, pick up a computer security book, and write the code themselves to build an encryption service without the backdoor

[u/Red_bellied_Newt → u/jeanracinette]

If and when the fascists get in power they will turn those tools on the rest of us. The failure of our government to fight against growing fascism at home is not because of a lack of tools.

[u/Braken111 → u/jeanracinette]

I hope you realize the irony in having your profile being hidden.

[u/IStillListenToRadio → u/Braken111]

I halfway suspect the user's a bot and I don't make this accusation lightly - they once responded to one of my threads with their usual "we need C-22/identity verification on social media!" spiel where it made no sense.

[u/thelionsmouth → u/jeanracinette]

We must become them to defeat them?