Thursday, March 7, 2013

Cyber Intelligence Sharing Is a Bad Thing

Why do I support the A.C.L.U., even morally, when they disagree with me more often than not? Here's why...I've ganked several paragraphs from an e-mail, removed links to my A.C.L.U. account, and replaced them with links to aclu.org, which you may use if you'd like to sign this petition too.

"The feds know exactly what you bought last night—or they could very soon, thanks to a proposed law that encourages companies to share data with government agencies like the CIA or NSA for cybersecurity purposes.

So get ready for powerful people in secret places to access your personal details on anything from the websites you browsed last night to that Christmas present you bought two years ago.

But luckily, there's a way to stop CISPA (the CyberIntelligence Sharing and Protection Act) dead in its tracks—by ensuring thatPresident Obama would veto the bill if it ever got to his desk.

CISPA was recently reintroduced in the House, but a veto threat would kill the bill before it gets traction, and send a powerful message to Congress that any legislation that indiscriminately violates our online privacy is dead in the water.

Just last year, thousands of us joined together in opposition to CISPA, and we WON. Obama threatened to veto the bill last year, but in order to protect our privacy online, we have to get him to do it again.

Urge President Obama to tell Congress now that he'll veto CISPAif it lands on his desk.

CISPA would give companies unprecedented power to obtain your information, including from private communications, and hand it over to the government without a warrant if they believe it is relevant to cybersecurity. But it also allows the use of your personal data for reasons completely unrelated to cybersecurity, even granting immunity to companies who share your data with other companies.

CISPA supporters are using the specter of cybersecurity threats to execute a naked power grab for companies and the government, but we're not actually safer if it comes at the expense of our fundamental rights.

With so many pressing fights coming up, Congress won't waste time pushing a bill they know Obama will veto. We stopped this bill before, and with tens of thousands of us coming together, we can do it again.

Join fellow ACLU supporters in calling on President Obama to veto CISPA."
 
Actually, this web site has been built and maintained on shared computers, and this web site frequently reminds everybody that "online privacy" is about as real as, say, your ownership of a car you abandon with the windows down, the doors unlocked, and the key in the ignition, beside a busy city street. However, we'd like to encourage Congress to preserve at least the legal fiction of online privacy that gives computer users some right to compensation for being hacked.

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