The National Cable & Telecommunications Association praised passage by the Senate Select Committee Wednesday of the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S. 754).
The bill would make it easier for NCTA members to share cyber threat information.
The March 13 vote was in closed session, but it was 14-1. The committee on March 17 released the final version of the bill.
"The release and introduction of the bill yesterday marks an important step forward in our collective efforts to improve our nation’s cyber readiness and share critical information on evolving cyber threat indicators," the cable trade association said in a statement. "The legislation seeks to balance cybersecurity, privacy and civil liberties concerns and will improve our ability to protect our Internet infrastructure, consumers and America’s economy. We look forward to working with Chairman Burr, Ranking Member Feinstein, and other members of the Senate as this legislation moves to the Senate floor.”
New America’s Open Technology Institute was not as pleased, saying the bill falls far short of protecting privacy.
“We are gravely disappointed by the Senate Intelligence Committee’s failure to add any significant new privacy protections to the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act," said Robyn Greene, policy counsel at the Open Technology Institute. "Most of the changes the Committee made when approving the bill last week are cosmetic, such that the final bill—like the draft bill before it—does more to authorize cyber-surveillance than to protect cybersecurity."
