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Blackout CISPA

By April 22, 2013July 21st, 2013Website work

For the two folks who will visit my site today (probably my parents),

Complete text of CISPA

Our neighbours to the South are currently creating regulations regarding Internet activity and use. As an Internet user, and personal, intellectual property owner online, I feel that CISPA will allow for abuse of individual rights, while not protecting that which it claims it will protect. Although this is not a law currently in Canada, I think the precedent it will set could encourage similar legislature throughout the world.

I hope not.

More details (taken from Reddit)

So, what exactly is a Cyber Threat?

(A) IN GENERAL- The term ‘cyber threat information’ means information directly pertaining to–

(i) a vulnerability of a system or network of a government or private entity;

(ii) a threat to the integrity, confidentiality, or availability of a system or network of a government or private entity or any information stored on, processed on, or transiting such a system or network;

(iii) efforts to deny access to or degrade, disrupt, or destroy a system or network of a government or private entity; or

(iv) efforts to gain unauthorized access to a system or network of a government or private entity, including to gain such unauthorized access for the purpose of exfiltrating information stored on, processed on, or transiting a system or network of a government or private entity.

(B) EXCLUSION- Such term does not include information pertaining to efforts to gain unauthorized access to a system or network of a government or private entity that solely involve violations of consumer terms of service or consumer licensing agreements and do not otherwise constitute unauthorized access.

Well that’s well and dandy, why should I be concerned?

While CISPA was written to address a legitimate problem, there are concerns about it potential for misuse. It could allow private companies to share your personal information with other companies and the government without informing you of it. The wording that relates to what information can be shared is vague, which raises concerns about what personal information of yours will be shared. The bill has been changed over time to address some of these concerns but most privacy advocates feel that it still has large loopholes that could be abused.

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