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

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 mandate metadata collection in the afternoon.

⏱️ Timestamps:

0:00 - Intro

1:03 - Professor Michael Geist on Bill C-22

1:57 - Lawful Access and the Surveillance Debate

3:22 - Bill C-22 Metadata Retention and Encryption

6:17 - Why Metadata Reveals More Than Content

8:01 - Police Use Case for Mass Metadata

9:24 - Evidence Justifying New Surveillance Powers

11:19 - Bill C-22 Supreme Court Challenge Risk

12:47 - Five Eyes Data Sharing Concerns

14:27 - Global Surveillance Laws in Australia and UK

18:12 - Signal Threatens to Exit Canada

19:54 - Economic Risks to Canadian Tech Sector

20:53 - Privacy Rights Versus Metadata Mandates

22:36 - How Canadians Can Push Back on Bill C-22

26:47 - Canada's AI for All Strategy Explained

31:16 - Digital Sovereignty and Foreign Data Centers

37:16 - Gaps in the AI Strategy

39:25 - Social Media Age Verification Rules

43:39 - Final Thoughts From Professor Geist

🔗 Links & Resources:

• Professor Michael Geist's website: https://www.michaelgeist.ca

• Michael Geist on Substack: https://michaelgeist.substack.com

• Michael Geist on X/Twitter: https://x.com/mgeist

• Sovereign Sessions — AI, Privacy, and Bitcoin education: http://youtube.com/@SovereignSessions?sub_confirmation=1

📌 Previous Episodes:

Tom Luongo & Nolan Bauerle → https://youtu.be/XGPaWFavFqk

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