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Signal says it will not change its product to collect and retain additional user metadata under Canada’s proposed Bill C-22. The bill has been amended to reduce a proposed retention period from one year to six months, but its status and the final requirements are not clear from the source report.
Signal says it will not change its product to collect and retain additional user metadata under Canada’s proposed Bill C-22, renewing its warning that the requirements could conflict with how the encrypted messaging service operates. The bill would require internet and electronic service providers to retain customer metadata for law-enforcement and intelligence purposes, though its final wording and legislative status are not established in the source report.
Signal Vice President of Strategy and Global Affairs Udbhav Tiwari said the company would not make changes to its product in response to amendments that reduced the proposed retention period. The amendments, introduced in June by Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, cut the period described in the report from one year to six months.
Signal’s current data practices are central to its objection. According to the Freedom of the Press Foundation’s report, the service retains a user’s phone number and timestamps for account creation and the most recent connection. The report says a general metadata-retention requirement would substantially increase the information Signal stores. The bill’s described metadata could include who communicated with whom, when they did so and how long a call lasted.
Anandasangaree’s spokesman said the proposed law would not require decryption of end-to-end encrypted services and would not “permit or compel companies to introduce systemic vulnerabilities or so-called ‘backdoors.’” That assurance addresses encryption and system weaknesses, while Signal’s stated concern is also about the collection and retention of metadata.
Metadata Rules Could Change Signal’s Data Practices
The dispute concerns information about communications, not only the content of messages. Metadata can reveal communication patterns, including contacts and timing, even when a service’s messages are protected by end-to-end encryption. A retention rule could therefore affect what information providers hold and might be able to disclose under legal demands.
For Signal users in Canada, the practical question is whether the service can continue operating without adopting data practices it says it will not accept. The source report describes Signal as warning it could leave Canada in response to the bill; Tiwari’s more recent statement says the company will not change its product. The report does not establish that Signal has made a final decision to withdraw, or that any departure has occurred.
The debate also matters to journalists and their sources, who use encrypted messaging and other privacy tools to communicate. The Freedom of the Press Foundation argues that such tools support secure reporting. That is the foundation’s position; the source does not quantify the bill’s likely effects on journalism or establish how authorities would use retained records.
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Bill C-22’s Retention Proposal
The Freedom of the Press Foundation says it previously reported in May that Signal had warned it might pull out of Canada over Bill C-22. As described in the report, the proposal would give police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service greater surveillance powers by requiring internet and electronic service providers to retain customer metadata.
In June, Public Safety Minister Anandasangaree amended the proposal to reduce the retention period from one year to six months. Signal’s position, as reported by the foundation, did not change in response: Tiwari said the company would not make product changes to collect the additional data. The source does not provide the bill’s full text, the complete amendment package or a detailed account of its progress through Parliament.
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Final Bill Terms Remain Unclear
The source report does not establish where Bill C-22 stands in Parliament, whether additional amendments are being considered or what its final requirements would be. It also does not explain how any retention obligation would apply to Signal’s existing data model, or whether the company would be able to continue offering its service in Canada without changing that model.
Signal’s refusal to alter its product is clear in Tiwari’s quoted statement, but the report does not confirm that Signal has decided to withdraw from the country. The government spokesman’s assurance that the bill would not compel backdoors does not resolve the separate question of what metadata providers would have to retain, or how authorities could seek access to it.
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Parliamentary Debate Will Set the Terms
The next key development is the bill’s continued consideration by Canadian lawmakers and whether its text or retention provisions change. The source report urges Canadians to contact members of Parliament, but it does not identify a vote date or a scheduled legislative milestone.
Signal’s stated position leaves the company’s response to a final law unresolved. Any further decision about service availability or product changes would need to come from Signal; the report gives no timeline for such an announcement. Readers should distinguish the current proposal and public statements from enacted requirements.
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Key Questions
What is Signal objecting to in Bill C-22?
Signal objects to requirements that would make providers retain additional customer metadata. The report describes metadata as information such as who communicated, when and for how long, rather than message content itself.
What did the amendments change?
According to the Freedom of the Press Foundation, amendments introduced by Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree reduced the proposed retention period from one year to six months.
Does the bill require Signal to decrypt messages?
A spokesman for Anandasangaree said the proposal would not require decryption of end-to-end encrypted services or compel systemic vulnerabilities or backdoors. Signal’s stated objection, as reported, concerns collecting and retaining more metadata.
Is Signal leaving Canada?
The source says Signal had previously warned it might pull out, but it does not confirm a final withdrawal decision. Tiwari’s quoted response is that Signal will not change its product to collect the additional metadata.
Source: fediverse
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