House to debate changes to cybersecurity bill

The House will vote on 16 amendments to the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) based on the terms of debate set by the Rules Committee.

Five of the amendments approved for debate are backed by the bill's authors, Reps. Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD). The amendments would tighten limitations on how the government can use the information it collects and would narrow the definition of "cyber threat information." The changes would also restrict the scope of liability protections for companies that turn over data to the government. The amendments aimed to address the concerns of privacy groups, who have warned the bill could lead companies to hand over their consumers' private information to the government. But the changes were not enough to win over privacy groups or the White House. Another amendment, offered by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), would ensure that the Freedom of Information Act would still apply to regulatory information shared as part of the bill.