The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) has passed the House of Representatives and has been referred to the Senate. This bill has been touted as a necessary security measure by some but in practice it will allow for significant privacy violations. If that isn’t bad enough, companies that violate your privacy will be immune from prosecution, leaving those affected by the law without any legal recourse.
” The bill sponsors will tell you that CISPA is only about the “ones and zeroes,” but it certainly isn’t drafted that way. There’s nothing limiting CISPA in that manner and?personally identifiable information?(PII) could be shared right along with some inconsequential code that doesn’t impact privacy at all. So, if your communications or records are somehow caught up in a cybersecurity data dump, they might possibly include information that identifies the real-world you, even if that information is not necessary to combat a cyber threat. Under CISPA, you’ll just have to trust that the corporations holding your very personal information do what’s best. Good luck with that.” (Source: ACLU)
Concerns over the privacy issues prompted President Obama to issue a statement promising to veto the legislation if it makes it through the Senate. Hundreds of websites blacked out their web pages on April 22, 2013 to protest the legislation and the ACLU has collected nearly 50,000 signatures on a petition against it. Congressman Ed Perlmutter, D-CO, had introduced an amendment to CISPA that would have addressed these concerns but it was voted down 224-189.
While it is unlikely that CISPA will pass the Senate as it is currently written, it is essential that we remain vigilant and make our voices heard. ?Remember the Patriot Act?
Christin Berger is a recovered conservative who is passionate about the environment, equality, and education. She is the author of the Jacqueline the Great series of children’s books with more books on the way and has six creative children (read: messy) and one very active ferret.?
You can connect with Christin through her website and Facebook page.
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