Is the opposition of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act really about user privacy?
The technology industry, and especially its major players like Yahoo, Google, and Facebook, have had their fair share of bad press over the past couple of years. In the news recently, you probably saw Google's privacy overhaul (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-32958765), Facebook's controversy over which names it allows its users to use (http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/5/9455071/nameless-coalition-facebook-real-name-policy), and Yahoo's monetary issues (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/ap/article-2802512/Yahoo-CEO-defends-strategy-face-criticism.html); it's fair to say that the world's major technology corporations haven't had an easy ride. However, this may be set to change, as the three companies identified above, along with T-Mobile, are protesting against a very unpopular new bill currently passing through the American government. This bill, which will become the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act if successfully passed through the Senate, is facing fierce opposition from the American public – so why exactly are these technology corporations joining them in the fight against the government? Let's look a little closer at the details, and try to figure out just what exactly is going on here.
What is the bill?
The Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act is a new technology surveillance law that would, in the words of the American government, "improve cybersecurity", which it would do by facilitating the "sharing of information about cybersecurity threats". It currently has bipartisan support, which means that both houses of the US Senate are in favour of it. At its core, the bill would allow corporations to share personal information related to their users with the US government. The release of this data by corporations would then grant them immunity from the Freedom of Information Act and government regulators.
It has been fiercely protested by many surveillance and technology advocacy groups, such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and civil liberties activists, like the American Civil Liberties Union. It has, however, received support from many economics and technology companies, groups, and organisations, like the powerful United States Chamber of Commerce, the Financial Services Roundtable, and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. It also had the initial support of the BSA (the Software Alliance), which represents companies like Apple and Microsoft, but this has since been withdrawn due to public pressure. However, Yahoo, Facebook, Google, and T-Mobile have all been opposed to the bill from the beginning, and recently their representational body, the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which also represents many other companies like eBay and RedHat, wrote an open letter expressing disagreement with the bill and its policies.
Why are these companies protesting it?
The open letter from the CCIA states that it will not be backing the bill as in its implementation, "innocent third parties" could be caused "collateral harm". By this it means that American citizens who do not pose a threat to the country could have their personal information passed on to the government. In addition, by excluding technology corporations from the Freedom of Information Act, they feel that this could cause a great injustice to the American people.
What are the real reasons behind this?
There has been a lot of scepticism in the media surrounding this open letter, with many people wondering what the true motives are. Some are suggesting that it is a jab at the American government, who have recently been less than hospitable to some of the corporations involved in the CCIA. Additionally, some have seen it as the CCIA backing its members, as Experian, a data company supporting the bill, recently lost 15 million sets of T-Mobile customer data, causing lots of issues for the mobile network operator. Other reports suggest that it is simply to get back on the side of the American public, as well as surveillance, technology, and civil rights activists, who have all had issues with companies like Facebook and Google in the recent past. But whatever the real motives behind this, on the surface it looks like some of the biggest players in the technology industry are standing up for their users. However, this may change as the situation develops and more information comes to light.
So, what do you think? Do you think that four of the world's major technology corporations are generally worried about the privacy and security of their users, especially when they seem to violate this themselves all the time? Or is it a publicity stunt designed to swing the public in their favour? Is it just a jab at the American government? Or could it be a way of securing their places at the top of technology's hierarchy? We want to know what you think, so let us know in the comments below.