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Codebreaker

Cybersecurity bill: here come the amendments

John Moe Jul 30, 2012

If my 9-year-old daughter was a United States Senator, this is the part of the cybersecurity bill debate where she would toss in an amendment that she be given a new American Girl doll. This is one of many reasons I am glad she’s not a United States Senator.
The legislation seems headed for a vote pretty soon here and its chief sponsors, Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) are trying to secure 60 votes and get the thing passed and filibuster-proof. We’re learning about the proposed changes, presumably in exchange for Yes votes.

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) has submitted an amendment requiring warrants if law enforcement wants to track suspects via GPS.
From The Hill:

“Because the law has not kept up with the pace of innovation, it makes sense to include the GPS Act’s requirement that law enforcement obtain a warrant for GPS tracking in the Cybersecurity Act. This will protect Americans’ location information from misuse,” Wyden said in a statement. “Part of the goal of the cybersecurity legislation is to update rules for information collection and privacy for the digital age, which is what the GPS Act is all about.”


Meanwhile, Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Ver.) wants to make it a crime for companies to conceal data breaches that have occurred.
Again from The Hill:

Under the legislation, anyone who purposefully conceals a data breach that causes financial damage could face up to five years in prison.

Other amendments offered by Leahy would set a national standard for companies to notify their customers in the event of a data breach and would require businesses that store consumers’ sensitive personal information to establish data security programs.

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