August, 02 2012, 01:08pm EDT
Senate Blocks Improved Cybersecurity Bill
The Senate today voted against moving forward on cybersecurity legislation ending the bill's chances at final passage.
S. 3414, the Cybersecurity Act, was recently significantly improved with several new privacy- oriented changes, including a mandate that information shared with the government under the program go to civilian agencies and not the National Security Agency or other military components.
WASHINGTON
The Senate today voted against moving forward on cybersecurity legislation ending the bill's chances at final passage.
S. 3414, the Cybersecurity Act, was recently significantly improved with several new privacy- oriented changes, including a mandate that information shared with the government under the program go to civilian agencies and not the National Security Agency or other military components.
The bill would have required annual reports from the departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Defense as well as the Intelligence Community Inspectors General, which would have described what information is received, who gets it, and what is done with it. It also would have given Americans the right to sue the government if it intentionally or willfully violates the law.
"Regardless of today's vote, the issue of cybersecurity is far from dead," said Michelle Richardson, ACLU legislative counsel. "When Congress inevitably picks up this issue again, the privacy amendments in this bill should remain the vanguard for any future bills. We'll continue to work with Congress to make sure that the government's cybersecurity efforts include privacy protections. Cybersecurity and our online privacy should not be a zero sum game."
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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