Technology Trade Group Backs Controversial Cybersecurity Bill

Legislation to encourage sharing of information about cyber threats among companies and the government has won the backing of a technology trade group.

TechNet, which counts Google, Microsoft and Yahoo among its members, has weighed in with support for a contentious cybersecurity bill the House of Representatives is expected to vote on as early as next week.

Though the bill has the backing of business groups, critics charge the measure, the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, would allow companies to share users' personal information with U.S. intelligence agencies without sufficient safeguards to protect privacy.

"The bill recognizes the need for effective cybersecurity legislation that encourages voluntary, bi-directional, real-time sharing of actionable cyber threat information to protect networks," Rey Ramsey, chief executive of the trade group TechNet, wrote in a letter Wednesday to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., the panel's top Democrat. TechNet's letter was first reported by The Hill.

Several top technology executives, including Google chairman Eric Schmidt, Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith, and Marissa Mayer, Yahoo's chief executive, sit on TechNet's executive council.

The bill passed the Intelligence Committee on Wednesday by a vote of 18 to 2 after sponsors adopted amendments they said would further reign in the government's use of information.

"Through hard work and compromise, we have produced a balanced bill that provides strong protections for privacy and civil liberties, while enabling effective cyber-threat sharing," Rogers said in a press release.

However, critics say changes don't go far enough. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill. and Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., voted against the measure, citing remaining privacy concerns.

Alexis Ohanian, a co-founder of the news website Reddit, has called on Google, Facebook and Twitter to oppose the bill. The companies should "take the stand that their privacy policies matter, that their users' privacy matters and no legislation like CISPA should take that away," Ohanian charged in a video posted Wednesday on YouTube.

The White House, which opposed a similar measure last year, citing privacy concerns, said it is unlikely to support the bill in its current form but looks forward to working with Congress on efforts to address cyber threats.

"We continue to believe that information sharing improvements are essential to effective legislation, but they must include privacy and civil liberties protections, reinforce the roles of civilian and intelligence agencies, and include targeted liability protections," National Security Council spokesperson Caitlin Hayden said in a statement, according to news reports.

Hayden called amendments adopted by the committee to address privacy "a good-faith effort" but added that the changes failed to address "some outstanding fundamental priorities."

TechNet sounded a similar theme, saying that the group looks forward to working with legislators "on further privacy protections" as the legislative process unfolds.