Don’t Flush Privacy in the Name of Security – CIO.com

Network World — On the face of it, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) that the U.S. House of Representatives just passed seems to address the long-held notion that encouraging private and public sector concerns to share security information will improve our general security.

And while the goal of CISPA is noble and the need warranted (even coveted by some enterprises looking for a way to share information while reducing legal liability), the devil is in the details, and unfortunately CISPA goes too far in terms of trading off our liberties.

CISPA, which passed the house by a vote of 248-168, would lead to the establishment of “procedures to allow elements of the intelligence community to share cyber threat intelligence with private-sector entities and utilities and to encourage the sharing of such intelligence.”

The bill identifies types of data the federal government will not be able to share, including library usage and book purchase records, and firearm, tax, education and medical records. And it would limit the government to using cyberthreat information for: cybersecurity, cybersecurity crimes, protection of individuals from death or bodily harm, risk of sexual exploitation (such as child pornography) and national security.

Don’t Flush Privacy in the Name of Security CIO.com.

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.