April, 18 2013, 02:46pm EDT
ACLU Comment on House Passage of CISPA
WASHINGTON
The House of Representatives today passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act despite a veto threat issued earlier this week by the White House. The legislation, which passed by a 288-127 vote, allows companies to share customers' personal information with any company or any government entity, including the National Security Agency. The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the legislation.
"CISPA is an extreme proposal that allows companies that hold our very sensitive information to share it with any company or government entity they choose, even directly with military agencies like the NSA, without first stripping out personally identifiable information," said Michelle Richardson, a legislative counsel at the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office. "We will work with Congress to make sure that the next version of information sharing legislation unequivocally resolves this issue, as well as tightens immunity provisions and protects personal information. Cybersecurity can be done without sacrificing Americans' privacy online."
The Senate, which has not introduced cybersecurity legislation for the 113th Congress, is reportedly working on a bill now.
For a detailed analysis of CISPA, please visit:
aclu.org/blog/tag/cispa-explainer
For more information on the ACLU's work on cybersecurity, please visit:
aclu.org/cybersecurity
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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Amid Spying Fight, House Passes Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act
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While applauding the U.S. House of Representatives' bipartisan passage of a bill to ensure that "law enforcement and intelligence agencies can't do an end-run around the Constitution by buying information from data brokers" on Wednesday, privacy advocates highlighted that Congress is trying to extend and expand a long-abused government spying program.
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Noting those decisions on the FISA reauthorization legislation, Ruddock stressed that "today's vote is a victory but follows a recent loss and ongoing threat as that Section 702 bill moves to the Senate this week too."
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