What Is CISPA 2013? Find Out How It May Put Your Security At Risk

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, CISPA, is a cyber-security bill that has sparked a flood of controversy over what the piece of legislation means for personal security. 

CISPA would allow voluntary information to be shared between companies in the private sector and the government in case of an impending cyber attack.

And the bill, reintroduced in February of this year, has already passed by the House with amendments and will now face the Senate for approval. 

If the legislation were to pass, it would allow companies like Google and Facebook to inform the government about suspicious activity on their networks, while the government would be able to alert those companies about a possible cyber attack.

So, what is the problem you ask?

Those in opposition to the bill argue that CISPA would open the floodgates for companies to transmit sensitive user information to the government because of an included liability clause.

According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, EFF, this "essentially means CISPA would override the relevant provisions in all other laws-including privacy laws."

And while CISPA proponents and writers Reps. Mike Rogers and Dutch Ruppersberger say that this scenario is not accurate, bill sponsors argue that data sharing is necessary in preventing a cyber attack from foreign hackers.

But the EFF says the bill could mean the release of personal information because of the way it is worded.

"CISPA is written broadly enough to permit communications service providers to share your emails and text messages with the government, or your cloud storage company could share your stored files," the EFF says.

You may remember hearing about CISPA in the past as it was passed by the House in April 2012 but was rejected by the Senate.

The White House also threatened a veto during that time, as well as with the bill now.

That is why Rogers and Ruppersberger have revised the bill to make it more enticing for the Senate and President Obama.

The new version of the bill, including amendments, was introduced last week.

CISPA is now in the hands of the Senate.

Check back for details about CISPA as they emerge.

To Learn More About the Bill In Detail And How It Was Revised, Take A Look At This Q&A Compiled By The EFF

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