The Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act on cyber security was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives for the second time. The bill on cyber security is giving the government and its agencies easier access to our personal information and Web data. The government wants to use it against hackers, but there are holes in the bill that will be exploited by our fair nation’s federal agencies in a heartbeat.
The first time CISPA was passed by the House, the Senate threw it out on the basis that it did not protect enough privacy. The president has vowed to veto the bill if it comes through the Oval Office, without the privacy of the public in mind.
Federal agencies have had problems with hackers in recent years — hackers who work on the side of governments and in particular governments like China. The U.S. government has grown increasingly wary of the Chinese, due to the amount of hacking that has been associated with it.
CISPA has been backed by many in the world of Big Business. Tech firms, such as TechNet lobbying group and CTIA Wireless Assoc., all stand by the bill. In these industry groups are companies like Google, Apple and Yahoo that take steps to warn that the hackers who attack U.S. interests are working for money and are supported by Chinese Intelligence.
This seems comforting: Three of America’s top companies want to hand over personal information of their customers to government agencies. Why is this OK, and how has this bill had so much support in the House? We have to show our appreciation to the mighty Republican majority in the House — they have our best interests in mind. If they are so concerned about cyber threats from other countries then why make it easier to acquire our Web data?
The president said he will veto the bill if it violates the rights of its citizens; but what it lacks in securing privacy in one place it will make up for in another. The only way we can make sure that this bill doesn’t make it through the Senate is by letting them hear our voices. The negative repercussions that could come from a bill such as this would leave us vulnerable as a free people. We would need to watch what we say on Facebook, emails could be monitored and the FBI may know how many eggs your chickens are laying on Farmville.
The supporting of this bill by big business validates the fact that they care not for you the customer but for themselves and the holy U.S. dollar. We can’t do anything on the Internet anymore without having to go through one of the companies in the lobbying groups mentioned above. I think we need to wake up and not let these businesses control our government anymore.
How do we let companies like Google know we think their priorities are whack when they control so much on the Internet? Write your senator! Tell them and the president that CISPA is a crazy idea — we need to be heard, not pushed to the side.
Antonio Addessi is a third-year psychology student with a minor in Marxism and socialism.