CISA MOVES FORWARD: DID YOUR LAWMAKER VOTE TO EMPOWER BIG BROTHER?

THESE 83 SENATORS JUST VOTED TO EXPAND SURVEILLANCE

Well, it’s not a huge surprise that it moved forward, but the faux “cybersecurity” bill, which is actually a surveillance bill in disguise, CISA, has moved forward in the Senate via an overwhelming 83 to 14 vote. As we’ve discussed at length, while CISA is positioned as just a “voluntary” cybersecurity information sharing bill, it’s really none of those things. It’s not voluntary and it’s not really about cybersecurity.

Instead, it’s a surveillance bill, that effectively gives the NSA greater access to information from companies in order to do deeper snooping through its upstream collection points. Even the attempts to supposedly “clarify” the language to protect data from being used for surveillance shows that the language is deliberately written to look like it does one thing, while really opening up the ability of the NSA and FBI to get much more information.

This is bad news, which is why nearly all of the tech/internet industry have come out against the bill. Apple, Twitter, Facebook, Google and more have spoken out against the bill in recent days, recognizing that at a time when they’re still trying to win back the trust of their users following the Snowden revelations, thelast thing they need is for the US government to pass a new sneaky surveillance bill. But, apparently, 83 Senators chose not to listen. Here are the 83 Senators who just voted to increase surveillance and decrease trust in our internet companies, thereby harming the American economy and innovation:

• Alexander (R-TN)
• Ayotte (R-NH)
• Barrasso (R-WY)
• Bennet (D-CO)
• Blumenthal (D-CT)
• Blunt (R-MO)
• Boozman (R-AR)
• Boxer (D-CA)
• Burr (R-NC)
• Cantwell (D-WA)
• Capito (R-WV)
• Cardin (D-MD)
• Carper (D-DE)
• Casey (D-PA)
• Cassidy (R-LA)
• Coats (R-IN)
• Cochran (R-MS)
• Collins (R-ME)
• Corker (R-TN)
• Cornyn (R-TX)
• Cotton (R-AR)
• Crapo (R-ID)
• Cruz (R-TX)
• Daines (R-MT)
• Donnelly (D-IN)
• Durbin (D-IL)
• Enzi (R-WY)
• Ernst (R-IA)
• Feinstein (D-CA)
• Fischer (R-NE)
• Flake (R-AZ)
• Gardner (R-CO)
• Gillibrand (D-NY)
• Grassley (R-IA)
• Hatch (R-UT)
• Heinrich (D-NM)
• Heitkamp (D-ND)
• Heller (R-NV)
• Hirono (D-HI)
• Hoeven (R-ND)
• Inhofe (R-OK)
• Isakson (R-GA)
• Johnson (R-WI)
• Kaine (D-VA)
• King (I-ME)
• Kirk (R-IL)
• Klobuchar (D-MN)
• Lankford (R-OK)
• Lee (R-UT)
• Manchin (D-WV)
• McCain (R-AZ)
• McCaskill (D-MO)
• McConnell (R-KY)
• Mikulski (D-MD)
• Moran (R-KS)
• Murkowski (R-AK)
• Murphy (D-CT)
• Murray (D-WA)
• Nelson (D-FL)
• Perdue (R-GA)
• Peters (D-MI)
• Portman (R-OH)
• Reed (D-RI)
• Reid (D-NV)
• Risch (R-ID)
• Roberts (R-KS)
• Rounds (R-SD)
• Sasse (R-NE)
• Schatz (D-HI)
• Schumer (D-NY)
• Scott (R-SC)
• Sessions (R-AL)
• Shaheen (D-NH)
• Shelby (R-AL)
• Stabenow (D-MI)
• Sullivan (R-AK)
• Tester (D-MT)
• Thune (R-SD)
• Tillis (R-NC)
• Toomey (R-PA)
• Warner (D-VA)
• Whitehouse (D-RI)
• Wicker (R-MS)

There are some disappointing names on that list, including those like Heinrich who have spoken out against surveillance in the past, and those like Schumer and Moran who have both tried to position themselves as supportive of the internet industry. Yet here they just helped throw them under the bus.
The 14 principled votes against this bill are the following list, who should be thanked for taking a stand against expanded mass surveillance:

• Baldwin (D-WI)
• Booker (D-NJ)
• Brown (D-OH)
• Coons (D-DE)
• Franken (D-MN)
• Leahy (D-VT)
• Markey (D-MA)
• Menendez (D-NJ)
• Merkley (D-OR)
• Paul (R-KY)
• Sanders (I-VT)
• Udall (D-NM)
• Warren (D-MA)
• Wyden (D-OR)

Paul had introduced an amendment that sounded pretty straightforward, effectively requiring companies to adhere to their terms of service with customers and it, too, got overwhelmingly voted down. Senator Whitehouse’s really bad CFAA amendment got basically ditched (there was one tiny bit of language from it that was kept in which was basically fine). There’s a chance that more amendments could be voted on on Monday, but from the sound of it, none of them have a chance.
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And now we have to worry about what will happen in conference when Congress tries to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions, and then see if the President signs the bill as well. Unfortunately, the Senate just did a really bad thing.