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Groups Urge Senate to Consider Privacy Protections in Upcoming Cybersecurity Bill

The Brennan Center, along with 25 civil liberties groups, urged the Senate Intelligence Committee to fix several privacy gaps in an upcoming cybersecurity bill.

Published: March 2, 2015

The Brennan Center, along with 25 civil liberties groups, asked the Senate Intelligence Committee to address several problematic provisions in an upcoming cybersecurity bill.

The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA) contains several provisions that allow the NSA to continue to invade American’s privacy through greater access to their information, including:

  • Automatic NSA access to personal information shared with a governmental entity;
  • Inadequate protections prior to sharing;
  • Dangerous authorization for countermeasures; and
  • Overbroad authorization for law enforcement use.

Cybersecurity legislation should be designed to increase digital hygiene and identify and remediate advanced threats, not create surveillance authorities that would compromise essential privacy rights and undermine security, groups said. The groups urged the Committee not to approve this bill until they addressed those concerns.

Download the Letter [PDF]


Coalition Letter to Senate Intel Committee on CISA