Several large privacy groups including the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) have come together in an attempt to stop the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA) from becoming a reality. The CISA Bill is expected to hit the Senate in the days to come. Perhaps even later this week. In the meantime the campaign to stop CISA from passing in the Senate is heating up. Privacy groups and a few select Senators are lining up to fight the bill.
According to proponents of CISA the bill is meant to “improve cybersecurity in the United States through enhanced sharing of information about cybersecurity threats, and for other purposes”. The law would give companies the right to share online information with the government with immunity. Privacy groups point out that CISA would give government agencies even more power to spy on users. It would also give companies immunity when sharing information with the government. They feel strongly that CISA is an attempt to pass a veiled surveillance bill.
In response to the Senate taking up the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act in the days to come, the privacy groups we mentioned earlier have teamed together to create a Stop Cyber Spying campaign. They are stepping back to 1984 in an attempt to reach those in Congress that don’t seem to get the impact of modern technology. In response they are sending opposition messages to Congress via fax. You can visit the Stop Cyber Spying site to learn more and to send your own fax to Congress.
We write about trading privacy for security (or perhaps a false sense of security) on a regular basis. Technology is growing fast and governments are caught in the middle. Governments around the world are fighting to either ban encryption or have back door access to encrypted data. In this case CISA would give authorities access to online information and protect companies from related lawsuits. It would grant them immunity for the data shared.
If you don’t want your personal information shared then you’ll want to act now. Visit the Stop Cyber Spying site or contact your Congressman’s office directly. Don’t wait though as the CISA Bill is set to hit the Senate any day now. If you wait to voice your concerns it might be too late. The CISA Bill has some powerful proponents making their voice heard on Capital Hill.