Mercatus Scholar Jerry Brito discusses the SECURE IT Act of 2012:
“It's refreshing to see that the bill Senator McCain introduced today, SECURE IT, does not include NSA monitoring of Internet traffic, which would be a very troubling for civil liberties. The NSA is a military agency and it would be very inappropriate to give it the power to gather information about U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, especially given its history of warrantless wiretapping.
“The McCain alternative goes further to protect privacy than the Lieberman-Collins bill. It limits the type of information ISPs and other critical infrastructure providers can share with law enforcement. Without such limits, ‘information sharing’ could become a back door for government surveillance. With these limits in place, information sharing is certainly preferable to the more regulatory route taken by the Lieberman-Collins bill.
“It seems that SECURE IT is looking to address the over-breadth of the Lieberman-Collins bill without introducing any new complications. Additionally, it is more in line with the approach taken by the House, so it would make reaching consensus easier.”
Read More Reaction from Jerry Brito
EXPERT COMMENTARY
No NSA Monitoring in SECURE IT Bill
Mercatus Scholar Jerry Brito discusses the SECURE IT Act of 2012:
“It's refreshing to see that the bill Senator McCain introduced today, SECURE IT, does not include NSA monitoring of Internet traffic, which would be a very troubling for civil liberties. The NSA is a military agency and it would be very inappropriate to give it the power to gather information about U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, especially given its history of warrantless wiretapping.
“The McCain alternative goes further to protect privacy than the Lieberman-Collins bill. It limits the type of information ISPs and other critical infrastructure providers can share with law enforcement. Without such limits, ‘information sharing’ could become a back door for government surveillance. With these limits in place, information sharing is certainly preferable to the more regulatory route taken by the Lieberman-Collins bill.
“It seems that SECURE IT is looking to address the over-breadth of the Lieberman-Collins bill without introducing any new complications. Additionally, it is more in line with the approach taken by the House, so it would make reaching consensus easier.”
Read More Reaction from Jerry Brito
Comments