Facebook Caught Secretly Lobbying for Privacy Destroying “Cyber Security” Bill

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Before I get into this post, I want to thank everyone for all the congratulations and kind well wishes on the recent birth of our first child. Mom and baby are doing great, and we couldn’t be happier. Now let’s get back to the business of liberty.

There’s a privacy destroying bill moving through Congress called the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, or CISA, and it’s imperative that the American public stop it in its tracks. Here are a few bullet points on the bill from Fight for the Future:

  • All privacy policies effectively null and void. Companies can share any private user data with the government, without a warrant, as long as the government says it is being used for a “cybersecurity” purpose.
  • In exchange, companies are given blanket immunity from civil and criminal laws, like fraud, money laundering, or illegal wiretapping (if a violation was committed or exposed in the process of sharing data).

  • Data is shared with a wide array of government agencies, from the FBI and NSA, to the IRS and local law enforcement. Many of these agencies have been breached within the last year and have outdated security systems, opening up the doors to even more cyber attacks.
  • Companies that play along can get otherwise classified intelligence data from the government, including private information about their competitors.

While the Constitution protects Americans from the federal government, private companies don’t care about your 4th Amendment rights, particularly if you waive them in a “terms of service” agreement. CISA would essentially allow the U.S. government to violate the U.S. Constitution by coercing companies to provide them with data on American citizens it would not otherwise be allowed to collect on its own.

Naturally, Washington D.C. is salivating over the prospect of such a bill. As the Hill notes:

But many industry groups, a large bipartisan coalition of lawmakers and the White House believe CISA is a needed first step to help better understand and repel the overseas cyberattacks plaguing both government and the private sector.

Of course, it’s the people who know absolutely nothing about technology, but who are experts in the art of abusing government power and accepting bribes, who are most in favor of CISA.

Meanwhile, many large tech companies have publicly come out against the bill.

In recent weeks, a number of prominent tech companies, such as Apple, reddit, Twitter, Yelp and Wikimedia have all come out against the bill. The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), an influential trade group representing Facebook, also expressed concernsabout CISA.

But look which one is missing from the list. The company with the most extensive database of all, and one with a history of egregious privacy abuses: Facebook.

Fight for the Future notes:

Mark Zuckerberg once called Facebook users “dumb f*cks” for trusting him with their data. Now he’s trying to take advantage of us. If CISA passes, all your photos, posts, relationships, and likes will have a path to government databases.

Recall:

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It didn’t make any sense. This bill is toxic. The public hates it and tons of tech companies are against it, but Congress keeps trying to ram it through. Now that we know that Facebook lobbyists are working behind the scenes to get it passed, it makes more sense why Congress keeps coming back to it. 

Facebook’s chief Senate lobbyist, Myriah Jordan, worked as General Counsel for CISA’s sponsor, Senator Richard Burr, right up until taking the job at Facebook. On her lobbying disclosures she lists “cybersecurity” as one of the issues she’s been discussing with senators. These “revolving door” connections give companies more power and influence than ordinary people could ever have, and it’s part of the reason why companies like Facebook think they can get whatever they want out of Washington.

Several offices on the Hill have heard from Facebook that they support CISA. As much as we wish we could reveal our sources, we agreed not to (selective leaking is part of how the lobbying game works, unfortunately). But this information matches with everything we know about Facebook’s love for CISA over the years. They backed the bill loudly before it was unpopular and then stayed silent as other big tech companies came out against it. We’ve asked them to state their position publicly, but they have said nothing. Facebook has backed this from day one, and now they’re the lone tech voice still working to make sure it passes. 

Facebook wants CISA because they want immunity from privacy lawsuits, but if companies like Apple, Twitter, and Reddit can do the right thing by their users and oppose CISA, Facebook can too.

Now here’s what Edward Snowden had to say about the entire affair:

For related articles, see:

Video of the Day – Three Former U.S. Treasury Secretaries and a Facebook Executive Laugh About Income Inequality

Facebook Censors Feminist Author Due to “Profane” Book Title

Facebook Reveals its Master Plan – Control All News Flow

Facebook Does it Again – Company Sends Funeral Home Advertisements to Cancer Sufferer

A Very Disturbing and Powerful Post – “Get Your Loved Ones Off Facebook.”

Meet the 77th Battalion – The British Army is Mobilizing 1,500 “Facebook Warriors” to Spread Disinformation

Freedom of Speech? Boston Mayor Bans Bad Mouthing of Olympics, as Facebook Will Filter Out “Fake News”

Why You Should Think Twice Before Using Facebook’s Messenger App

Was the Department of Defense Behind Facebook’s Controversial Manipulation Study?

In Liberty,
Michael Krieger

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10 thoughts on “Facebook Caught Secretly Lobbying for Privacy Destroying “Cyber Security” Bill”

  1. Hi Michael, I appreciate all your posts and the issues you work so hard to bring to light. I want to pass this along to you re. climate engineering and the horror of what it’s bringing to light for us all.. please watch this. A fantastic presentation..

    Reply
  2. Who are the terrorists here? A bunch of camel jockeys in caves in the middle east or the congress?

    Hint, its the one that is doing more damage to the USA. If you can add 1 + 1 you can also figure out the answer.

    Reply
  3. I don’t think I’d worry about this to much,the government will attack this country with their police gangs and foreign military,and when the WARS over EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM WILL BE DEAD,they made a serious mistake,THEY trusted the foreign troops to help them,big mistake,IT will cost them ALL their lives,their just to greedy to see whats coming down the path their way,HOPE YOU GUYS ARE READY, IT ain’t going to be pretty you know,WAR never is,MOST americans will be blind as a bat,and WILL NOT EVEN see it coming…TILL ITS WAY TO LATE………….

    Reply
  4. Sadly, there’s no Aaron Swartz to bring enough disparate groups together in resistance against this one. The powers seeking control of the web have planned their second attack quite well. The international component (TPP), the national (CISA), and, crucially, the social (victimization feminism). All the pieces are lined up, ground support has been astroturfed, and the social network choke points (like Swartz) have been neutralized.

    I hope you are preparing your site for a prosperous existence in the “Dark Web”. It’s going to get a bit worse before it gets better.

    Reply

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