🇨🇦 Regarding Canada’s Bill C-22

Canada’s Bill C-22, widely criticized for expanding state surveillance and undermining freedoms, would force developers to weaken security and implement backdoors. NORSE Labs cannot comply — neither morally nor legally. Here’s why.

NORSE Labs, as a company registered under Estonian law, is obligated to comply with Estonia’s laws and regulations. Estonia’s Penal Code prohibits the illegal disclosure of personal data under § 156 and 157, and makes it a criminal offence to conduct unauthorized surveillance under § 137.

Moreover, since digital human rights are among the essential interests of the Republic of Estonia, assisting a foreign state in activities directed against those interests is a criminal offence. Any attempt by a foreign intelligence agency to coerce NORSE Labs will be rejected and immediately reported to the Estonian Internal Security Service (KAPO), as required by law.

Besides that, we have a moral obligation to stay out of our customers’ business. This is exactly why we built our dVPN around Sentinel P2P — with full decentralization, there is no way for us to track users’ online activities. This won't change.

We have also heard the government’s “public safety” sob story many times. The fact remains: you cannot justify weakening encryption for the sake of security — it is a direct contradiction, like suggesting beer improves your health. Too bad it doesn’t. We’ve seen many times how some of the most dangerous measures have been passed into legislation around the world over the past 30 years under the guise of “public safety.” Almost everywhere, they ended up being used for politically motivated persecution and censorship, while having little to no impact on actual safety.

Therefore, whether Bill C-22 passes or not, our commitment to customer privacy will not change: NORSE Labs will not assist in surveillance, will not log your activities, and will not hand over your data to authorities who believe a bill gives them the right to override basic human rights.