In a vote Wednesday afternoon, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence passed the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (“CISPA”). Eighteen Representatives voted in favor of the bill, and two–Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL)–voted against.
The Committee adopted amendments that Chairman Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Ranking Member Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) outlined on Monday in response to privacy and other concerns voiced about the bill. In particular, amendments were adopted to eliminate a provision enabling the government to use shared information for broad “national security purposes,” to require the government to remove personally identifiable information from information shared pursuant to the bill, and to clarify that the bill does not allow companies to “hack back” entities that engage in cyber theft.
The panel did not adopt amendments offered by Representatives Schiff and Schakowsky. Those amendments would have required private sector entities to remove personally identifiable information before sharing data with the government, limited liability protection available to companies that share information, and required information to be shared first with a civilian agency, rather than the National Security Agency.