Preventing bad guys from hacking into the nation’s power grid or breaching national security computers is easy enough to support.
Most people would tell you they don’t want to see that happen.
But what are you willing to give up to protect the nation against cyber threats?
We’re concerned that a bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives suffers from a case of TMI — in that it asks people to potentially share too much information.
Rep. Jared Polis, the Boulder Democrat, gave a fervent speech on the House floor against the bill, saying it would “waive every single privacy law ever enacted.”
The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, also called CISPA, doesn’t set clear enough limits on what sorts of information businesses, such as your Internet service provider, can collect on individuals and under what circumstances.
It allows businesses to provide that information to the government, but doesn’t clearly limit what happens from there.
The bill assumes the best intentions of the National Security Agency, but we think it should also protect against the worst. Any cybersecurity measure should include robust oversight provisions so lawmakers can go back and ensure the government hasn’t abused its power.
It’s not like it hasn’t happened.
It was only five years ago that the Justice Department’s inspector general issued a report that revealed how the FBI abused its authority on a regular basis to obtain private records.
The only reason the report saw the light of day was because federal lawmakers had the foresight to require an audit of the use of so-called national security letters before considering whether to reauthorize the Patriot Act.
It was a disgraceful abuse of power, and one we should learn from.
One of the issues with CISPA is that it’s being wrapped in the flag — support it and you’re patriotic, oppose it and you’re not. As we recall, such an approach has gotten this country into a lot of civil liberties problems over the years.
Protecting this country’s infrastructure, including its water supply and air navigation and control systems, is important work. We understand such computer systems, as well as military weapons systems, are targets of people with bad intentions.
The White House has threatened to veto the bill in its current form, saying it fails to protect civil liberties. The administration is requesting significant changes that the Senate would do well to consider.
As the matter moves to the Senate, we hope lawmakers will pursue a measure that more carefully defines what information can be provided, who has access to it and how it can be used.
Sharing information in an effort to ward off cyber attacks is a good idea that we support.
But online privacy shouldn’t be a casualty in the nation’s cybersecurity efforts.
