The cybersecurity laws currently in Congress will create a new exemption to the Freedom of Information Act that blocks the public from knowing anything about signs of cyber threats and defensive tactics companies and individuals share with the government. (Politico, April 20, 2015, by Josh Gerstein)
The Freedom of the Press Foundation and others signed two letters opposing the bills which they say are “little more than new surveillance powers wrapped in a cheap disguise.” Read the letters here and here. (Freedom of the Press Foundation, April 21, 2015, by Trevor Timm)
The Electronic Frontier Foundation also opposes the bills, ” Like other bills we’ve opposed during the last five years, they authorize more private sector spying under new legal immunity provisions and use vague definitions that aren’t carefully limited to protect privacy. The bills further facilitate companies’ sharing even more of our personal information with the NSA and some even allow companies to ‘hack back’ against potentially innocent users.” (EFF, April 22, 2015, by Mark Jaycox)