The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act has passed through the U.S. House of Representatives with some important amendments added, but still leaving some concerns unaddressed.
The 248 to 168 vote shows the strong support for the ability for companies to share information freely — for the sake of protecting against cybersecurity threats — without the threat of antitrust laws. Tech and communications companies including Facebook, Microsoft, and AT&T have pledged their support for the bill.
The Obama Administration and the Center of Democracy & Technology (CDT), on the other hand, are concerned that the law could be used to aggregate private user data and to essentially police the Internet.
“The bill has three critical civil liberties problems, and we have worked with Members of Congress, Internet users, advocacy groups, and industry to address them,” the CDT said in a statement. “The first is that CISPA permits unfettered sharing of private communication with the government; second, it permits that sharing to go to any agency including the super-secret NSA; and third, it permits the government to use this information for purposes wholly unrelated to cybersecurity.”
CISPA must still pass through the Senate and again through Congress if President Obama opts to veto the bill, which has been recommended by his advisors.
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