The White House has moved to block the Cyber Security Sharing and Protection Act, threatening to veto the bill in its current form.
The bill allows for large web companies like Facebook or Google to share information between themselves and the government so long as it is for cyber security reasons. That much is clear in the bill. But the definition of cyber security and what must happen to the data after it is transferred, is not.
It would be a great advantage to larger companies, which is why Facebook had supported the bill in the past. However there at least 34 civil liberties groups in active opposition to the bill. The groups argue that information could be shared between large companies via special programs that secure the user’s privacy. The most prominent group protesting the bill is the American Civil Liberties Union.
Two things:
- We fail to see how information stored anywhere on Facebook can be considered ‘private'.
- Someone is building these “special programs” that can trade data while securing user privacy. The open letter cannot name who builds them, but a true program that can safeguard your security while analyzing your data is not going to be inexpensive. A rewrite of the bill would be a huge victory for civil liberties, but it would also make someone, somewhere, a large amount of money.
What's your opinion of the bill? Are you for it in its current form, and if not, how would you like to see it rewritten?