July 08, 2014

Wyden, Udall Oppose Cybersecurity Bill Due to Lack of Privacy Protections

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Mark Udall, D-Colo., issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's mark-up of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act:

“Cyber-attacks on U.S. firms and infrastructure pose a serious threat to America’s economic health and national security. We agree there is a need for information-sharing between the federal government and private companies about cybersecurity threats and how to defend against them. However, we have seen how the federal government has exploited loopholes to collect Americans' private information in the name of security. The only way to make cybersecurity information-sharing effective and acceptable is to ensure that there are strong protections for Americans’ constitutional privacy rights. Without these protections in place, private companies will rightly see participation as bad for business. 

“We are concerned that the bill the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence reported today lacks adequate protections for the privacy rights of law-abiding Americans, and that it will not materially improve cybersecurity. We opposed the bill for these reasons, but we stand ready to work with our colleagues to address its shortcomings.”