You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone (especially when it relates to privacy)

In the wake of the hectic news-cycle after Boston and the immigration bill being announced, it’s not surprising you didn’t hear much about the internet “security” Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) dying in the Senate last week. This was the second attempt in half a year to pass this bill which would affect how internet providers and other companies can store, track and can send your information to other parties.

Anybody who uses their computer regularly knows that privacy on the internet is an interesting concept. On one hand, it’s easy to make an account on Google or Reddit and browse websites from behind a veil of anonymity. At the same time though, web pages and companies are increasingly tracking our habits on and off the computer to better analyze our purchasing habits, browsing whims and advertising usage. (Case in point: Target discerned a high schooler was pregnant before her father knew [“http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/02/16/how-target-figured-out-a-teen-girl-was-pregnant-before-her-father-did/”]) CISPA was written with a black and white world in mind and never sat well over the multiple gray areas that exist with some uses of the internet.

I understand the need for addressing security issues that are present within the digital age. It’s easier than ever to steal someone’s credit, identity or carry out an attack which can cripple daily life. Having information available such as IP addresses and the ability to effectively share this information can make tracking these kinds of crimes easier but this isn’t worth sacrificing our privacy and freedoms. CISPA’s definition of what constituted a threatening activity was far too broad and gave companies immunity in collecting and passing on information that was ambiguous in absence of context. A file sharing site can be used illegally to download movies or legally to share user-created works and public domain documents, so giving broad, overreaching powers to companies to censure and track usage is a dangerous step for personal privacy.

I support a bill that can help agencies manage sharing of real, sensitive information better without sacrificing personal liberties to do it. Julian Sanchez at Wired had an excellent article on how to craft a bill to do just this. (http://www.wired.com/opinion/2013/04/cispas-dead-now-lets-resurrect-it/)

What I am not willing to do is willingly sacrifice privacy for the illusion of “security”.

Reprinted from 5th District State Sen. Curt Thompson's (D-Tucker) blog. Thompson represents parts of unincorporated Duluth, Norcross, Tucker, and Lawrenceville. Also, check the senator out on Facebook and Twitter.