Tech companies are lining up against cybersecurity legislation that’s headed toward a vote in the Senate after months of waiting.
On Tuesday, Apple and Twitter announced their opposition to the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, which would allow companies and government agencies to exchange information about consumers free of legal liability, in order to share information on hacking attempts. Apple explained its opposition in a statement that said, “The trust of our customers means everything to us and we don’t believe security should come at the expense of their privacy.”
The chorus of tech voices opposed to CISA has been gaining steam. The Computer and Communications Industry Association, which includes companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and T-Mobile, said it was opposed to the bill last week.
Speaking on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said that the opposition from the tech community was evidence that the bill should be defeated.
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“I believe this bill is badly flawed because it doesn’t pass the test of showing that when you share information you’ve got to have robust privacy standards,” Wyden said. “Millions of Americans are going to look up and they’re going to say … it’s a surveillance bill.”
“Don’t just take my word for it. Listen to all of the leading technology companies that have come out against the current version of this legislation. These companies know about both the importance of cybersecurity and protecting individual privacy,” he added.
The bill’s author, Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said the tech companies were on the wrong side of the issue. “The ugly part of this is that cyber theft is real,” Burr said. “It doesn’t discriminate. It goes to where the richest pool of data is, and in the case of the few companies that really are not supportive of this bill, they are the richest depositories of personal data in the world. I hope they wake up and smell the roses.”
Burr, the sole sponsor of the legislation, serves on the Senate Intelligence Committee with Wyden.
Under the terms of the bill, companies would be released from civil liability if they shared personal data with the government, even if it were unrelated to a cybersecurity threat, provided they didn’t do so wittingly. Wyden, who has been an outspoken critic of privacy intrusions, argued that wasn’t good enough.
“In order to get immunity from a lawsuit, a private company has to look at the personal data they would provide and remove any information that the company knows is personal information unrelated to a cybersecurity threat,” Wyden said “As long as that company isn’t certain they are providing unrelated personal information, that company gets immunity from lawsuits.
“Some companies may choose to be more careful than that, but this legislation … would not require it.”
Burr said he anticipates the Senate will continue discussing the legislation for “several days” before coming to a vote.
