Rules Committee rejected amendment offered by lawmakers to ensure consumer privacy protections
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Bi-partisan Privacy Caucus co-Chairs Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Texas) today urged a NO vote on the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), citing serious concerns with the lack of adequate protections for consumer privacy. The lawmakers issued the following statement:
 
“If this piece of legislation had a privacy policy, it would be ‘You have no privacy!’. In its current form, this legislation would allow companies to share personal information about consumers with other companies, even if that information has nothing to do with cybersecurity. The bill also frees companies from liability if they share this personal, sensitive information. This is unacceptable, and we urge a NO vote on this inadequate legislation.”
 
Reps. Markey and Barton have been the Congressional leaders on providing privacy protections for personal consumer information. The lawmakers have investigated the data privacy and security practices of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, College Board, Groupon, the four major wireless carriers, and the Social Security Administration, among other entities.
 
###