| 3.23.22

In the Name of Cyber Security, Should It Be Easier for Companies to Share Information With the Government? (H.R. 1560)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 1560?

(Updated March 11, 2018)

This bill seeks to improve national cyber security by creating new procedures for private sector companies to share information with the government — without the fear of being sued.

First, the bill would set up a system where the government can share classified information with non-government affiliated parties (private sector organizations), and where those non-government parties can share their information with the government. The government would be able to use the information gathered for cases against both cyber and physical crimes.

All of this information would be monitored and managed by a new organization called the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center (CTIIC). This entity would report to the Director of National Intelligence.

This bill would make sharing easier through a series of liability protections. Participating organizations would be protected from lawsuits by people who want compensation for having their information shared. If you wanted to sue FourSquare because it shared your check-in location with the Feds in a case against you, well, tough.

At the same time, it also comes with a number of elements aimed at protecting privacy. It specifically bans spying or collecting personal information on an individual. Under the bill, when organizations acquired information, they would have to analyze it to determine if it has a person’s private information and, if it does, remove those parts from their collection. The Attorney General himself has to vet it for privacy issues. The bill also comes with a whistleblower protection.

Argument in favor

Cyber threats are an increasingly dangerous threat to American industry and consumer privacy. This bill not only finds ways to help the private sector share helpful information with the government, but it also protects those companies from lawsuits, plus strong privacy protections for consumers.

Argument opposed

This bill gives government intelligence agencies a free pass to increase cyber surveillance of people in the U.S. — and might even undermine cybersecurity rather than enhance it. The U.S. needs NSA reforms before it can start building channels for companies to share information with the government.

Impact

People that use digital technology, the private sector companies that produce and use that technology, the NSA and other surveillance organizations, the Attorney General, and the Director of National Intelligence.

Cost of H.R. 1560

The CBO estimates that implementing this bill, with all of the information that would have to be managed and monitored, would cost $186 million from 2016 to 2020.

Additional Info

In Depth:

This bill has bipartisan support. Three Democrats and five Republicans join Sponsoring Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) in co-sponsoring it. It’s very similar to the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), a bill currently in the Senate — however there are key differences:

"The Senate bill [has] inspired fierce opposition from privacy advocates who say vague language gives intelligence agencies too much leeway to define what kind of “defensive measures” they can carry out for “cybersecurity purposes.”
Another key difference between the bills is that the Senate bill would force private companies trying to share information to first send it through the Department of Homeland Security. The House bill has no such stipulation."

Of Note:

This bill comes after a series of high-profile hacks on large companies in recent years. In November of 2014, a group called Guardians of Peace hacked Sony Pictures, taking with it 100 terrabytes of data and shutting down phone and email service. A number of movies and private emails, as well as employees’ personal information made it onto the Internet. A year earlier, credit card information for everyone who shopped at Target in a three week period was hacked and stolen.

This bill would make it easier for companies like Sony and Target to work with the federal government to keep stuff like this from happening. But privacy advocates aren’t exactly keen on the idea of big companies sharing information with the government. According to leaked documents, tech giants like Google and Facebook have already shared information with the government through the controversial PRISM program. This bill could have the potential to expand and institutionalize that kind of activity.