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Government Surveillance

CDT Opposes CISPA Going Forward

Washington—In issuing a rule excluding amendments on two of the major privacy and civil liberties issues remaining in CISPA—the flow of information to the National Security Agency and the authority to use information for non-cybersecurty purposes—the House leadership has squandered an opportunity to achieve balanced cybersecurity legislation.

Earlier this week, after extensive discussions with the House Intelligence Committee and after agreeing with the Committee on amendments to address some issues, CDT said, “The bill falls short because of the remaining concerns – the flow of Internet data directly to the NSA and the use of information for purposes unrelated to cybersecurity. We support amendments to address these concerns. Recognizing the importance of the cybersecurity issue, in deference to the good faith efforts made by Chairman Rogers and Ranking Member Ruppersberger, and on the understanding that amendments will be considered by the House to address our concerns, we will not oppose the process moving forward in the House.”

We worked very hard to improve this bill. Now that the House leadership has decided to block amendments addressing two of our core issues, CDT cannot stand silent. We must oppose CISPA.