White House Supports Privacy Destroying CISA, Despite Past Promises It Would Not

from the this-is-a-problem dept

Thu, Dec 17th 2015 12:34pm — Mike Masnick

In the past, President Obama has threatened to veto any cybersecurity bill that undermines privacy and civil liberties. Of course, people didn't quite believe that was true, and now that we see the final cybersecurity bill, the bastardized CISA has been attached to the "must pass" omnibus spending bill, and clearly is a disaster on privacy issues, what do you think the White House is saying?

Well, they love it, of course:

"We are pleased that the Omnibus includes cybersecurity information sharing legislation," a senior administration official said in an emailed statement. "The President has long called on Congress to pass cybersecurity information sharing legislation that will help the private sector and government share more cyber threat information by providing for targeted liability protections while carefully safeguarding privacy, confidentiality, and civil liberties."

Except, you know, it doesn't actually do that last part.

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Filed Under: administration, cisa, cybersecurity, omnibus, omnibus bill, president obama, privacy, white house

48 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 12:44pm

The intellectual dishonesty is palpable.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 12:48pm

WOPR
"the only winning move is not to play."
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 12:50pm

"We are pleased that the Omnibus includes cybersecurity information sharing legislation,..."

They are pleased that they tacked on a rider bill - that has been spoken out against and shot down how many times?

"The President has long called on Congress to pass cybersecurity information sharing legislation that will help the private sector and government share more cyber threat information by providing for targeted liability protections while carefully safeguarding privacy, confidentiality, and civil liberties."

That will help the government steal everyone's information - without warrant, and allow your service provider to spy on you? The only "protections" left in this bill are those that protect providers from being sued for violating a user's 'inalienable' rights. What a god damn joke.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 12:53pm

Ryan just threw our privacy under the omni Bus
Time for the Freedom Caucus to roll the dice again.

While the Dems just put the ISIS on this cake.
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ECA (profile), 17 Dec 2015 @ 12:57pm

To whom it may concern
Interesting..

Anyone here, understand that THESE PEOPLE are employees??
Lets cut some wages?

Lets search their Lockers..
Lets read all their EMAILS..and secret data, they keep HIDING from us..
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 12:59pm

If we can survive one more year, and if none of the current front runners get elected... the revolution will not be televised.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 1:18pm

"We are pleased to see such a disastrously posionous and freedom undermining bill slipped into a must-pass government funding bill so that we have no choice but to pass it while being able to maintain the appearance of caring."
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 1:27pm

Of course they do
Since the current administration is only serving on the behalf of the intelligence community, of course they are going to come out in support of the bill that will wipe out any residual rights that we thought we still had. Long live the corruption.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 1:27pm

I wonder who in the Old West complained this much about its wildness being tamed.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 1:37pm

Hyphen
I support privacy destroying CISA, but not privacy-destroying CISA.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 1:39pm

Re:
Another one for the "sad but true" button.
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David, 17 Dec 2015 @ 1:41pm

So know we hide from the ISP's
Even my daughter knows how to use a VPN and has used Tor, and I didn't even tell her about any of them. She's learned on-line and through friends. Kids are getting very tech savvy, and privacy conscious, and are pretty good about getting around a lot of stuff. Sometimes I'm pretty amazed.
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Mike Masnick (profile), 17 Dec 2015 @ 1:51pm

Re:
I wonder who in the Old West complained this much about its wildness being tamed.

If this bill were about somehow "limiting" a wild west environment, you might have a point. But seeing as it's actually about getting tech companies to cough up more private info to the gov't, not sure I get your point.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 2:03pm

Question
"CISA has been attached to the "must pass" omnibus spending bill"

That's what I don't get about the US system. Can you just put anything into another bill? Like that thing must pass or the Gov goes down so we attach things people would never approve too.

If that is the case then from my point of view the system seems (a bit) broken.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 2:50pm

Re: Re:
Reading your multiple complaints every day about these bills rings hollow when I see nothing but silence from you about Google reading my emails and taking pictures of my house from the street and space.
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Glenn, 17 Dec 2015 @ 3:04pm

If lying were a crime, then every politician would be in jail--for life.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 3:06pm

LOL. What a surprise. Melodramatic, incorrect clickbait from Techdirt.
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Daydream, 17 Dec 2015 @ 3:07pm

Re:
I wonder who in the Old West complained this much about its wildness being tamed.

The native americans who, despite having lived on the land for generations, were prevented from being represented in the 'new' American community and subjected to discriminatory restrictions and violence.

Did I get it right?
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 3:07pm

Re:
Yes, the lies that Techdirt puts out to feed the tinfoil hat crowd are pretty amazing.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 3:09pm

Re: Re: Re:
You won't hear anything from them because the "privacy crusaders" are nothing but hypocrites.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 3:10pm

Re: So know we hide from the ISP's
Or maybe, you know, don't do anything illegal and take off your tinfoil hat?

Newsflash; the government doesn't care about your stupid groupons.
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lucidrenegade (profile), 17 Dec 2015 @ 3:53pm

Re: Re: Re:
OOTB is back!
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lucidrenegade (profile), 17 Dec 2015 @ 3:54pm

Re:
The report button is getting a workout today!
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 4:07pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Oh I know. But they must be mocked :)
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 4:13pm

bend over citizens .....further ...nope nope a little further ..perfect.
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Rekrul, 17 Dec 2015 @ 4:55pm

Re: Re: So know we hide from the ISP's
I'm sure that you're not doing anything illegal, so why don't you post your browser history for the last month as well as the full text of all your emails. After all, you don't have anything to hide, do you?
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Rekrul, 17 Dec 2015 @ 4:57pm

In the past, President Obama has threatened to veto any cybersecurity bill that undermines privacy and civil liberties.

A politician lied. In other news; Bears crap in the woods and water is wet.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 4:58pm

Re: Re: Re: So know we hide from the ISP's
Go ask Google for them. Or maybe ask Mike Masnick for help. He snoops on IP addresses here.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 4:58pm

Re: Re: Re: So know we hide from the ISP's
LOL. Ooooh so scandalous.

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Rapnel (profile), 17 Dec 2015 @ 5:36pm

Re: Question
That's the funny thing; You don't need to get it, you only need to take it.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 6:00pm

How many promises has Obama broken?
Let me count them. Oh, every one of them. Who is surprised? Only the Dems.
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Rapnel (profile), 17 Dec 2015 @ 6:28pm

Twisted
Some of our corporate citizens can not seem to pay or provide for their own defenses or their business and customer data.

Critical information streams are fed onto the internet. Law enforcement and national defense have taken extreme liberties in their efforts to protect and to serve.

If the internet is so riddled with the means to bring on the imminent destruction of entire nations then we need to know. We need to know some specifics. The threat of the loss of a plane, a building, 10,000 men, women and children much less the risk of theft of money, identity or your loathsome grasp on art is not it. Militants claiming to comprise an ISIS is not it. Anonymous is not it. Global warming is not it. A fat hairy bastard in the basement diddling his way through NASA is not it.

Our government is all but completely trashing us. For what? Military contracts? Drugs? Pedophiles? What? .. The "law"? Chya, I think that ship sailed, Mr. Secret.

We need to know more and our government has been doing almost nothing but taking, on numerous fronts, for well over half a century. Look it up. It's time to give something back to the people if it is truly the people that they wish to serve. That may beg the question though, mightn't it?

No. We get corrupted Media, Mafiaa-assoes, forcible theft via monops & duops, health care, pills and the fucking po-lice. Meanwhile, I have two senators alll about intel co-ops and "OMFG we need some GD CYBERSECURITY up in here!" while articulating their ignorance with extreme dedication to their duties with smooth linguistic dexterity navigating the realms of politics, parties and re-election.

The "intel committees" in Congress? Tell me again why only a handful of people chosen to represent us all should know what's about to take us all out. Exactly. The entire intel outfit has become a joke and is becoming and extreme liability - and yet they remain free to keep on taking. Free of reigns, laws and oversight, proper oversight.

And if you're reading this and if offends you, your morals or your sense of duty (or inherent underlying vein of extreme greed) then fuck off. You know exactly what I'm talking about, don't you? Bitch.

EOF
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 7:21pm

Fuck it, I'm voting for Trump...
At least I know what kind of asshole he is. I'm sick of getting my hopes up...
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That One Guy (profile), 17 Dec 2015 @ 8:23pm

Re: Re: Re:
Ah that laughable comparison...

Don't want Google reading through your emails? Don't use Gmail.

Don't want your ISP and/or spy agencies recording your activity online? Don't use the internet.

No matter how many times people try and divert attention away from government spying with the 'But Google!' dodge, there remains a very significant difference between the two.

One of them can throw you in jail, the other cannot.
One of them can file charges against you, the other cannot.
One of them you can choose not to involve yourself with, the other you cannot.

I'll let you have fun figuring out which is which.
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That One Guy (profile), 17 Dec 2015 @ 8:31pm

Re: Re:
Humor button too, good times watching the authoritarians run around like mad trying to dismiss everything.

Even funnier watching them try and do so by pulling the 'But Google spies on you too!' distraction, as though the two were even remotely similar. If government spying is good, and Google spying is bad, then it's pretty clear they don't actually care about the spying bit, they just don't like Google.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 9:45pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
OIC, so your FUD about "getting thrown in jail" makes it OK for Google to spy.

You've really lost the plot there, guy.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 9:57pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Correct, Google can't throw you in jail or file charges against you. That's why they support things like CISPA, which allow them to share everything with the government, who can do that.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 10:01pm

Re: Re: Re:
Spying is bad, period. If Google and other companies weren't doing it, the government would be having a far more difficult time creating the dragnet they've assembled over the past 15 years or so.

It's not either/or. Government spying doesn't make Google spying ok, and Google spying doesn't make government spying ok.
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That One Guy (profile), 17 Dec 2015 @ 10:28pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Nice strawman, but no, I don't want Google or the government spying on my communications or activity. For Google, that means I don't use Gmail or their search engine. For the government...?

FUD? For that to be FUD, you would have to be claiming that the government doesn't spy on it's own citizens, and cannot use the information they gather to throw you in jail, neither of which are true.
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That One Guy (profile), 17 Dec 2015 @ 10:32pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Have they actually shown support for it though? While I'm pretty sure I've seen mention of them being (idiotically) silent on the matter, I'm not sure if I've seen a mention of them outright supporting it, though I suppose you could argue that silence is 'support' on something like this.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Dec 2015 @ 11:54pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Is somebody holding an anti-trust action to their head to keep them silent?
/conspiracy theory
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That One Guy (profile), 18 Dec 2015 @ 12:53am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Spying is bad, period. If Google and other companies weren't doing it, the government would be having a far more difficult time creating the dragnet they've assembled over the past 15 years or so.

Indeed and quite possible respectively. Companies gathering as much personal data as they can does make for a very juicy target for the government, making for a much easier time grabbing massive amounts of data, yet at the same time even without those treasure troves of data, the government would still have done their best to grab everything they could, and with the kind of money they have to work with, and a nice and complaint 'oversight' 'court' and committee, 'more difficult' really isn't saying much.

It's not either/or. Government spying doesn't make Google spying ok, and Google spying doesn't make government spying ok.

Agreed, and no, one doesn't make the other okay, but one of them is vastly more worrisome than the other, and it's not Google's spying. Google, big as it is, is one company, the government can force or 'entice' many companies into spying for them, especially if they can dangle 'legal immunity' in front of the companies.

Worry about Google spying some other day, for now there are much bigger concerns with regards to privacy.
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That One Guy (profile), 18 Dec 2015 @ 12:56am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
You don't even need to go that far actually, for a company like Google legal immunity for sharing customer data would be very tempting, and more than enough to stay silent on the matter.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Dec 2015 @ 1:39am

Anyone know of an index for non-US based internet company's and sites - specifically non-US social networks, search engines, email providers and e-commerce sites - preferably which support strong end-to-end encryption? No, well never mind - I'm sure one will be along soon as the rest of the world turns away from the current leading "officially and legally monitored by god-knows how many US govt departments" websites!
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Dec 2015 @ 7:33am

Re: Re: Re:
Reading your multiple complaints every day about these bills rings hollow when I see nothing but silence from you about Google reading my emails and taking pictures of my house from the street and space.

Google just wants your data to show you products and help you navigate. The feds want it for law enforcement. Big difference.

Especially since the DOJ is now looking to crack down on domestic anti-government groups. Better watch what you say online...
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Wendy Cockcroft, 18 Dec 2015 @ 7:35am

Re: Re:
Would you care to list these alleged lies, AC?
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Wendy Cockcroft, 18 Dec 2015 @ 7:36am

Re: Ryan just threw our privacy under the omni Bus
I hope this is the year we find a cure for Partisan Nitwit Disease.
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Anonymous Coward, 18 Dec 2015 @ 12:02pm

Re: Re:
Then why are you here?
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