 Dear Erick, On Wednesday, the House Intelligence Committee passed the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). If you hadn't heard this news, it might be because the general public and media weren't allowed to attend the hearing - even CSPAN's cameras were ordered out of the hearing room. This dangerous legislation is expected to hit the House floor this Thursday and could come up as soon as Wednesday, as part of the House's "cyber week." Make no mistake, this bill poses a great threat to our online privacy. Every privacy concern we've raised over this bill in the past was confirmed this past Wednesday, when the committee passed an amendment supposedly "addressing" them. Of course, the amendment doesn't do anything to prevent the government from spying on you. In fact, it clearly states the government can use your personally identifiable information they've collected if federal bureaucrats deem it's a matter of "national security." While the government raises the specter of "cyberterrorism" from China, Russia, and non-state actors like the well-known hacker collective Anonymous, it is the American people that will be caught in the crossfire if this legislation passes. Information such as online chats, email content, browsing history, and bank records would all be vulnerable to collection by the government's spy network. You see, once the government gets this information from a corporation, it's handed over to the National Security Agency and other military and civilian "security" agencies. Under CISPA, corporations handing over information for alleged "cybersecurity purposes" don't even have to make an attempt to remove personally identifiable information before sending your private info to government agents. Even worse, CISPA lacks any meaningful "minimization procedures." In other words, the government can store that information as long as they want - and use it for whatever purposes they want. Now, some have suggested that just adopting minimization procedures alone would assuage privacy concerns. Not so fast . . . During debate over renewal of the egregious FISA Amendments Act, we learned that on at least one occasion, NSA surveillance was found "unreasonable under the Fourth Amendment" for violating their minimization procedures. Why should we be so naïve as to think they wouldn't act the same under CISPA? So it's critical the entire bill be rejected. Erick, you and I know the value of an open Internet, where people are free to speak their mind. I shudder to think what the world would be like if we were all to live in fear that our online activities could be monitored by our own government. As a matter of fact, so much of the governments' argument for so-called "cybersecurity" legislation is based on classified briefings members of Congress receive. Their argument seems to be: "Trust us, we need this legislation." And, "Trust us, we won't abuse it." This is NOT the way it's supposed to be. The Constitution was intended to be a check on government power to protect the rights of its citizens. When it comes to matters of "national security," however, this government makes our rights play second fiddle to their schemes. When this is the case, Americans must DEMAND their representative show why such extraordinary power is necessary. The burden of proof lies with government. And "classified information" only available to select members of Congress shouldn't cut it. I know there are a lot of battles to fight right now. Between "gun control" schemes, National ID, the National Internet Tax Mandate, and numerous other Big Government plots, it seems Congress has seldom been this eager to steal our liberties and crush us under the heavy hand of the State. That's why it's vital you EMAIL your representative this weekend and place a call to their office first thing Monday morning demanding total opposition to CISPA. You can find their contact information HERE. After you've contacted your representative, I hope you'll chip in just $10 or $20 to help Campaign for Liberty turn up the heat on Congress in defense of the Internet and our privacy. We've fought this fight before in the last Congress; let's make sure they know we're still watching. In Liberty,  John Tate President P.S. The dangerous Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) is expected to hit the House floor for a vote this Thursday, and it could come up as early as Wednesday. While the government raises the specter of "cyberterrorism" from China, Russia, and non-state actors like the well-known hacker collective Anonymous, the American people would once again caught in the middle of Leviathan's spy network. That's why it's vital you EMAIL your representative this weekend and place a call to their office first thing Monday morning demanding total opposition to CISPA. You can find their contact information HERE. After you've contacted your representative, I hope you'll chip in just $10 or $20 to help Campaign for Liberty turn up the heat.
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