Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–April 18, 2013 – Rep. Jan Schakowsky released the following statement after voting against the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act:
“I voted against the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act because we don’t need to compromise our civil liberties to fight terrorism. Cybersecurity and privacy aren’t mutually exclusive, and this bill fails to achieve a balance between protecting our networks and safeguarding our liberties.
“I offered an amendment that would have made critical advances toward protecting privacy and would have required that companies report cyber threat information directly to civilian agencies, maintaining the longstanding tradition that the military doesn’t operate on U.S. soil against American citizens. Another important amendment, offered by Congressman Schiff, would have required companies to make reasonable efforts to remove personal information before sharing cyber threat information. Unfortunately, those critical amendments were not brought to the House floor for a vote.
“The Obama Administration expressed ongoing concerns about this legislation, issuing a veto threat. I share the President’s concerns because this bill falls short in several key ways. While the House took some important steps toward ensuring that the military doesn’t collect personal information on American citizens, it still fails to safeguard the privacy of Americans by not requiring companies to make reasonable efforts to remove personal details from information sent to the government, and it grants sweeping immunity to companies for ‘decisions made’ based on cyber information, prohibiting consumers for holding companies accountable for reckless actions and negligence.
“I appreciate the bipartisan efforts made by the Chair and the Ranking Member of the Intelligence Committee, but despite some positive changes, this bill fails to adequately safeguard the privacy of Americans.”
Source: schakowsky.house.gov
