CybersecurityHouse Intelligence Committee to work on cybersecurity bill in camera

The House Intelligence Committee will meet next week in order to draft a  cybersecurity bill, known as the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), but will not allow media members or the public to sit in on meetings during the process.

The Hill reports that the committee will release information about what amendments were offered and how lawmakers voted. Committee members  will also be able to discuss with reporters what happened in the meetings – but only after the meeting. D during the committee discussions, the public will not be allowed in the room and the meetings will not be streamed online as other meetings have been.

Privacy advocates oppose the bill, arguing that  it would encourage companies to share  sensitive personal information of their customers with federal agencies such as the National Security Agency (NSA).

Greg Nojeim, a counsel for the Center for Democracy and Technology, told reporters that CISPA could be used as a “back-door wiretap” to access private information without a warrant.

Privacy groups are now asking the House and Senate Intelligence Committee to add amendments which will restrict the type and use of information gathered under CISPA before the bill is sent t to the floor.

The Center for Democracy and Technology, American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, and The Constitution Project wrote a letter to the  House Intelligence Committee on Wednesday, asking the group to open the meetings to the public.

“The public has a right to know how Congress is conducting the people’s business, particularly when such important wide-ranging policies are at stake,” the groups wrote.

Susan Phalen, a spokeswoman for the committee, said the panel often restricts access to its hearings because lawmakers might need to discuss classified information.

“Sometimes they’ll need to bounce into classified information and go closed for a period of time to talk,” Phalen told theHill. “In order to keep the flow of the mark-up continuing forward, you can’t stop in the middle of an open hearing, move everyone to another location for a portion of it, and then move back.”

Phalen added that the committee did not allow the media into its meetings when it discussed CISPA last year. The committee has not yet scheduled the meetings, but many expect it to happen next Wednesday.

The legislation will remove legal barriers which prevent companies and the government from sharing information about cyber threats. Sponsors for the bill say the legislation is critical in the fight against hackers who attack private and government computer networks.