Controversial CISPA Passes House Despite White House Threat to Veto

Related Articles

• Users Become More Savvy at Managing Online Privacy and Reputation
• An Email Policy Can Reduce Liability and Prevent Data Leaks
• Data Retention Legislation Debated; Data Breach Legislation Stacking Up

Subscription Options

Subscribe Newswire

Widgets & RSS Feeds

Despite advocacy efforts to amend parts of CISPA—H.R.3523 Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act of 2011 (PDF)—the cybersecurity legislation passed the House of Representatives today by a vote of 248 to 168.

Groups believing the bill poses threats to privacy include The Constitution Project, American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Free Press, Reporters Without Borders, Sunlight Foundation, TechFreedom, and The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT).

Since late last year when the bill was introduced, CDT has raised concerns that the bill, which would authorize Internet service providers and other companies to share customer communications and other personally identifiable information with governmental agencies, had flaws that needed to be addressed. According to CDT, the flaws include a too broad, almost unlimited definition of the information that can be shared with government agencies, superseding all other privacy laws. Also of concern is a likely expansion of the government’s role in the monitoring of private communications and a likely shift in control of government cybersecurity efforts from civilian agencies to the military. CDT also points out that once information is shared with the government, it wouldn’t have to be used for cybersecurity, but could instead be used for other purposes. CDT Senior Counsel Greg Nojeim outlined concerns in a December blog, just after the bill was introduced.

Last week, CDT, among others opposing CISPA as currently written, were pushing for a separate cybersecurity bill, H.R. 3674 - the PRECISE Act,  sponsored by Rep. Dan Lungren (R-CA), that has information sharing language that many feel offers a better alternative to CISPA, and better balances cybersecurity, industry, and civil liberties concerns.

“We need cybersecurity legislation, not surveillance legislation,” stated CDT President Leslie Harris.

CISPA was fast-tracked, with final amendments to the bill due on Tuesday. The White House issued a veto threat yesterday, saying the bill did not have sufficient civilian oversight and privacy protections. Supporters, however, believe the bill is needed to safeguard against a major cyberattack.

CDT issued the following statement, today, upon the news that the bill is moving onto the Senate: “We worked very hard in cooperation with the Intelligence Committee to develop amendments to narrow some of the bill’s definitions and to limit its scope. We are very pleased that those amendments were adopted, leaving the bill better for privacy and civil liberties than it was going into the process. However, we are also disappointed that House leadership chose to block amendments on two core issues we had long identified—the flow of information from the private sector directly to NSA and the use of that information for national security purposes unrelated to cybersecurity.”

CDT and others are vowing to continue to oppose the legislation without recommended amendments.