Congress passed the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act earlier this week. CISPA would allow
private companies to share information about its users with the federal
government in the interest of circumventing possible cyber security threats.
Critics like Rainey Reitman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation have stated that
the bill is dangerously vague and that “To date, the authors of the bill have
been unresponsive to these criticisms, offering amendments that are largely
cosmetic. Dismissing the grave concerns about how this bill could undermine the
core privacy rights of everyday Internet users, Rep. Mike Rogers (one of the
bill’s authors) characterized the growing protests against CISPA as
'turbulence' and vowed to push for a floor vote without radical changes.” Sharon Bradford Franklin of the Constitution Project has stated that the current draft
of CISPA “does not come close to addressing civil liberties threats,” and Ron Paul has criticized the bill as “Big Brother writ large,” and that “the bill will
make government spies of Facebook and Google.”
The bill is characteristically vague
when defining what constitutes a threat to cybersecurity. In its current form
the bill would allow internet companies like AT&T, Verizon, Google, and
Microsoft (who all support the bill) to share customer information with any
federal agency if that user is a potential threat to cybersecurity. Under this
law, companies could potentially share your information with the federal government
without any judicial oversight. It is prescient that Ron Paul mentions Google
specifically. After opposing SOPA, which is essentially an earlier version of
this same law, Google quietly announced last year that it was actually lobbying for and helping to craft
the legislation of CISPA. This is a company that has time and again flaunted the
legitimate privacy concerns of its users, and has shown a chilling complicity
with the federal government to harvest the private information of law-abiding
citizens. This is no wonder considering Google’s ties with In-Q-Tel, a CIA
venture capital branch. Facebook also has a history of insouciance about its
users privacy concerns. In 2010 it was revealed that Facebook’s popular apps leaked
private user information to advertisers without the user’s knowledge. In a
private chat session with a friend, the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, ridiculed his users saying “They trust me. Dumb fucks.”
The Obama administration has officially opposed CISPA in its present form and would likely veto the bill, but it is
important to note that the Obama administration would rather all information
sharing that the bill proposes be handled by the Department of Homeland
Security to safeguard citizens' privacy rights. If you’ve been to an airport in
the past ten years you know that the Department of Homeland Security hasn’t
exactly made your privacy a priority.
The internet is now the frontline
for citizens who want to expose government corruption and fight for liberty.
The state is frightened by how easily citizens can share information about
their misdeeds, and CISPA is a desperate move to track you, control you, and
shut down your freedom of speech. Right now, the Senate is holding off on
voting for CISPA, so now is your chance to contact your senator and urge them
to vote NO on this privacy busting piece of legislation. Feel free to copy and
paste the following message to an e-mail or letter to your senator. Of course,
your message should be addressed to your particular senator. If enough people
make their voices heard we can stop this legislation just like we stopped SOPA.
Act now!
Dear Senator (name here),
I am writing to urge you to vote “no”
on the CISPA bill should it be taken up by the Senate. CISPA does not
adequately protect the privacy concerns of law-abiding citizens who do not want
their information shared with the federal government. It is very discouraging
to see Congress pass a bill that so flagrantly violates our fourth amendment
rights. Of course I want the internet to be a secure place for people to share
information and conduct business, but that security should never come at the
expense of civil liberties. Benjamin Franklin wisely counseled us that “those
who would sacrifice freedom for security deserve neither.”
I am standing with privacy advocates
in the ACLU, The Electronic Frontier Foundation, The Constitution Project, and
others to oppose any legislation that grants the government broad powers to
gather my information without due process, impartial oversight, or
transparency. I urge you to do the same.
Respectfully,
(Your name here)
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