News

US Senate passes cybersecurity bill that allows government to collect data

Monday 2 November 2015 09:17 CET | News

The US Senate has passed a controversial cybersecurity bill which is presumed to allow the government to collect sensitive personal data unchecked.

The cybersecurity bill, named Cisa, would allow ‘voluntary’ sharing of private information with the government, allowing secret and ad hoc privacy intrusions in place of meaningful consideration of the privacy concerns of all US citizens.

Cisa would create a program at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through which corporations could share user data in bulk with several US government agencies. In exchange for participating, the companies would receive complete immunity from Freedom of Information Act requests and regulatory action relating to the data they share. DHS would then share the information throughout the government.

Among the bill’s opponents are industry groups representing a broad swath of tech companies, several of which have come out individually against the bill in addition to statements from industry trade groups.


Free Headlines in your E-mail

Every day we send out a free e-mail with the most important headlines of the last 24 hours.

Subscribe now

Keywords: cybersecurity, data privacy, online fraud, online security, consumer
Categories: Fraud & Financial Crime
Companies:
Countries: World
This article is part of category

Fraud & Financial Crime