Senate Returns to Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act
The Senate took steps Tuesday to return the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S-754) to the floor. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters “it’s my plan to move to cybersecurity,” after the Senate voted on the Stop Sanctuary Policies and Protect Americans Act (S-2146). The latter then failed to advance, on a 54-45 cloture vote. “We have an agreement to get on” S-754, McConnell told reporters. “We have a number of amendments in the queue.” McConnell suspended consideration of S-754 in August but reached a deal on a set of 22 amendments that would be considered once the bill returned to the floor (see 1510060046). McConnell was expected to re-file cloture on S-754 later Tuesday.
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Debate on S-754 began Tuesday with floor speeches, with voting on the slate of amendments already up for consideration expected later in the week. McConnell told reporters he believes the Senate could move to a cloture vote on S-754 by early next week. Negotiations since August have centered on consolidating some of the 22 amendments into an existing manager’s amendment, and it appears several of the less controversial amendments are being incorporated into the final version of the manager’s amendment, an industry lobbyist told us.
An amendment from Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., that would require establishing procedures for “timely” notification of individuals whose information was shared in violation of S-754's privacy scrubbing rules, is among the amendments being incorporated into the manager’s amendment, the industry lobbyist said. A second amendment from Wyden that would require the removal of personally identifiable information from cyberthreat data shared by the private sector, isn't among the amendments being added to the manager's amendment, the industry lobbyist said. Wyden continued to vocally oppose S-754 Tuesday, saying it “will potentially reduce the personal privacy of millions of Americans in a very substantial way.”
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, R-N.C., said he wants to foster a full debate on S-754 but that “we want to work expeditiously” on the bill. Burr and Vice Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., touted S-754 in floor speeches Tuesday as critical to defending U.S. companies against cyberattack. They also defended S-754 against criticisms from privacy advocates that the bill could be used to allow federal intelligence agencies additional access to citizens’ personally identifiable information (PII) and that the bill doesn’t contain sufficient privacy and civil liberties protections. “Nothing in this bill creates any potential” for authorizing new surveillance authorities, Burr said. The measure is only a “first step” in improving U.S. cybersecurity and “is not a panacea,” Feinstein said.
Twitter decided Monday to join other tech firms that are publicly opposed to the bill. Security and privacy “are both priorities for us and therefore we can’t support” S-754 as currently written, Twitter said. “We hope to see positive changes going forward.” Burr and Feinstein criticized entities that publicly oppose S-754, with Burr saying the information sharing mechanisms allowed via the bill are voluntary. “Don’t participate,” Burr said. “It’s that simple.” Feinstein said more than 50 other entities are publicly supportive of S-754 and the bill would allow only very narrow authorizations for information sharing.