Joe Levi:
a cross-discipline, multi-dimensional problem solver who thinks outside the box – but within reality™

Letter: Oppose Privacy Killing "Cybersecurity" Bills

I just sent the follow letter to Senators Hatch and Lee. Feel free to borrow this copy, modify it however you like, and send it on to our Senators (or your own Senator, if you’re not in Utah).

May 22nd, 2012

Senator Orrin Hatch
104 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Senator Mike Lee
316 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

SUBJECT: Support the 4th Amendment by Rejecting So-Called “Cybersecurity” Bills

Dear Senators,

The “cybersecurity” bills being considered in Congress are intrusive and unnecessary.

  • CISPA (HR 3523), which passed the House, isn’t really about cybersecurity at all because it allows the feds to collect personal data to prosecute non-cybercrimes.
  • The Lieberman-Collins bill (S 2105) imposes unnecessary standards and regulations on private firms that already have a self-interest in protecting themselves from cyber threats.

I also oppose the SECURE IT Act (S 2151), which threatens my privacy and civil liberties. Among its many problems, SECURE IT:

  • Encourages private companies to monitor Internet usage, seeking ill-defined “cyber threat information,” even when this would violate their contracts with their customers.
  • Exempts private companies from current privacy and tort laws by allowing the sharing of my personal records with the Megastate.
  • Sets no standards to anonymize private information.
  • Facilitates the sharing of my personal information with the NSA and the military.

And it does these things, even when the information gleaned has ZERO to do with cybersecurity. Let’s  call them what they really are “Online Privacy Revocation” bills. Private companies would enjoy legal immunity even when they break their own contracts. Citizens will have no legal recourse if the government abuses its new powers under the bill. Worst of all, SECURE IT also circumvents the Fourth Amendment. It gives the Federal Leviathan access to my personal information — data that would normally require a search warrant to obtain.

If “cybersecurity” was really a concern, Congress could have passed a narrowly-tailored law that allows information sharing to prevent cyber-attacks, yet also protects my privacy. Congress has not done this. This has gone MUCH further. Is it an accident? This makes me suspect that “cybersecurity”, like “terrorism”, is a scare word designed to frighten me into surrendering more privacy and liberty.

I insist that you REJECT ALL of these “cybersecurity” bills unless they are in the form of a Constitutional Amendment to modify (or overturn) the 4th Amendment.

I do NOT consent to the type of erosion of my 4th Amendment Rights. I await you response either in-favor of privacy and the 4th Amendment, or your justification for bypassing the 4th Amendment with these poorly named “Privacy Revocation” Bills.

In solidarity,

Joe Levi, SY08 Precinct Chair
(address redacted)

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