Signal may exit Canada over Bill C-22 given the bill's metadata retention rules and the risks to encryption and user privacy. Signal’s Udbhav Tiwari joins the Law Bytes podcast to explain why the company says it cannot comply and what could come next.
https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2026/11/the-law-bytes-podcast-episode-282-udbhav-tiwari-on-why-signal-may-exit-canada-over-bill-c-22s-encryption-and-metadata-retention-rules/
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@connynasch
Unsure where you got that idea from? Signal is the only comms I still trust to use with comrades. No other alternative exists that I'm aware of.
Telegram is where I saw a lot of fascists folks. I deleted that app awhile back.
@PhoenixSerenity thank you for explaining it - I was not aware 😊 @mgeist
@connynasch
No problem. I know a lot of people who never used Signal or Telegram get both of them confused. Signal has refused to back down from government threats, in USA & Canada. They're planning to sue government of Canada if necessary too. Signal is legit & has been useful for comms between activists for years.
@connynasch @mgeist
I use it to communicate with friends and family abroad. It would be a disaster for me if they pulled out of Canada. What alternatives would you propose that offer the same features and aren't "big tech"?
@shrimpney @connynasch @mgeist You could use email which is also used by 99% of the internet population. There are multiple ways to add Signal like encryption to it. Make sure you have (or made) a server that has all the security updates though: https://bookofadamz.com/how-to-tell-if-your-email-service-sucks/
@Adam @shrimpney @connynasch @mgeist 99% of the regular user email population (I'd honestly suspect closer to 100% than 99%, globally for individuals) are not using an email service that even has built-in support for those encryption tools, let alone have all of the features enabled and correctly configured. The list of checks on that site do not look at all user-friendly or approachable for the average person to figure out.
If you send messages you think are going to be encrypted but they are received by a system that scans them anyways and puts that in a big tech database on the recipient's end, that is strictly worse than a system where you can have relative confidence that any message you send will have adequate encryption by default.
A system that *can* be secure if you do things just right, and so does your sender is not actually a particularly secure system.
@mgeist I do not use Signal, assumed that it was for right-wing and fascist types. No loss if they leave - there are plenty of other options. Personally I got blocked by FB, aside from feeling flattered, I do not miss it. My friends on it were multiple, but so far only a few have remained in contact of the hundreds I had. Could not have been essential 🤔