New Law Creates ‘Giant Surveillance Map’ of Every Citizen | Dr. Michael Geist

About this episode

Dr. Michael Geist discusses Canada's Bill C-22 and its implications for privacy and surveillance.

Mentor Sessions Ep. 076: The Giant Surveillance Map Canada Wants to Build on Every Citizen, Encryption Backdoors Coming to Bill C-22, and What Bitcoiners Must Know | Dr. Michael Geist Canada's Bill C-22 would force companies to retain your metadata for up to 12 months, potentially mandate encryption backdoors, and could push Signal out of Canada entirely — and it affects Five Eyes allies including Americans. In this episode, legal scholar and digital rights expert Professor Michael Geist breaks down exactly what's in Bill C-22 (Canada's lawful access legislation), why mandatory metadata retention is far more invasive than the government admits, and how the bill contradicts Canada's own stated commitment to privacy rights. You'll learn why Signal has said it cannot operate under these requirements, how Five Eyes intelligence sharing means American data could be swept into this net, and what ordinary Canadians can actually do before Parliament reconvenes in September 2026. You'll also see how Canada's "AI for All" strategy is in direct tension with its surveillance ambitions — and why Professor Geist says you can't create a fundamental right to privacy in the morning and…

People in this episode

Host: Ben Perrin

Guest: Dr. Michael Geist

Topics covered

• surveillance
• metadata retention
• encryption backdoors
• privacy rights
• lawful access legislation
• digital rights

Keywords

• Bill C-22
• metadata
• encryption
• surveillance map
• privacy
• Canada
• Signal
• Five Eyes
• digital rights

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Signal, Five Eyes

Books & works: Bill C-22

Places: Canada, Americans

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