Canada is working on a new “lawful access” bill called Bill C-22, and it is already raising serious concerns among privacy advocates and encrypted services.
The government says the bill is meant to help law enforcement investigate modern crimes by improving access to digital evidence and private communications. Critics, however, fear it could pressure companies to weaken encryption, collect more user data or provide broader access to authorities.
Supporters describe the proposal as a necessary security measure. Opponents see it as another step toward expanding surveillance powers under the usual promise of “public safety.”
The debate is quickly spreading beyond Canada. Privacy focused services (VPN's and messengers) are now openly questioning whether strong encryption and no-logs policies can survive under laws like this.
And if that happens, Xeovo will remove Canada from its server pool as well. We will not run infrastructure in countries that try to weaken encryption or undermine user privacy.
We already went through something similar in India back in 2022, when new logging rules forced VPN providers to remove their servers from the country. If Canada follows the same path, we will likely do the same there too.