Privacy groups oppose new Senate cyber bill

A coalition of privacy advocates have come out against a new Senate cybersecurity bill that critics say ignores the revelations about US surveillance. In a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee, 22 privacy groups warned against taking up the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act.

That recently introduced bill from Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Vice Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) would make it easier for companies to share information about cyber threats with each other and the government.

In their letter, the groups -- including the ACLU, the Center for Democracy and Technology and the Electronic Frontier Foundation -- said the bill would allow for more information sharing with US intelligence agencies, including the National Security Agency (NSA) despite public backlash over NSA surveillance. “Instead of reining in NSA surveillance, the bill would facilitate a vast flow of private communications data to the NSA.”