Cyber Bill Gives Companies Perfect Cover to Gut Your Privacy
Following several high-profile data breaches — such as those at Sony
and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management — Congress is once again
feeling the pressure to push “cybersecurity” legislation.
The problem is, the bill they’re laser-focused on is misguided,
wouldn’t protect us — and is a huge gift to companies wanting legal
cover if and when they choose to violate Americans’ privacy rights.
In March, the Senate Intelligence Committee voted 14–1 in favor of
the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA). The bill, like
its infamous predecessor CISPA,
would allow companies to share vast amounts of users’ private and
personally identifiable data with the government. That information would
go straight to the Department of Homeland Security and then on to the
NSA.
If CISA passes, companies would be permitted to monitor and then
report to the government on vaguely defined “cyber-threat indicators” — a
term so broad that it covers actual threats hackers pose to computer
systems but also sweeps in information on crimes like carjacking and
burglaries. Those are serious offenses to be sure, but they have nothing
to do with cybersecurity.
Some
tech companies are eager to share more of our personal data with the
government so long as they don't have to worry about violating any
privacy safeguards. CISA gives companies exactly what they want:
ironclad liability protection to share information about any perceived
cyber threats with federal agencies. (Photo: Mr. Thinktank/flickr/cc)
tech companies are eager to share more of our personal data with the
government so long as they don't have to worry about violating any
privacy safeguards. CISA gives companies exactly what they want:
ironclad liability protection to share information about any perceived
cyber threats with federal agencies. (Photo: Mr. Thinktank/flickr/cc)
