tomgraves.house.gov

Graves, Tom
Contact: Garrett Hawkins 202.225.5211


Rep. Tom Graves Votes to Protect Privacy, Fight Foreign and Criminal Cyber Attacks

Washington, Apr 22 -

Rep. Tom Graves (R-GA-14) issued the following statement today after voting in favor of the Protecting Cyber Networks Act (H.R. 1560), legislation that would protect personal privacy while fighting foreign and criminal cyber attacks:

“Foreign entities and criminals are constantly attacking Americans where they shop, where they work and where they keep personal records. Parents shouldn’t have to worry about having their identity stolen because they bought diapers at Target. Sony employees shouldn’t have their business records exposed because they exercised free speech. We have to fight back. This bill enables private-sector companies to voluntarily share information concerning cyber security threats with each other and civilian-run government agencies.

“By increasing information sharing, private-sector companies can better protect themselves against attacks and the government can more quickly identify foreign and criminal threats. That said, not only is information sharing completely voluntary, but the bill contains two layers of privacy protection for individuals. This bill protects civil liberties and individual privacy while bolstering our defenses against the constant threat of foreign and criminal cyber attacks.”

H.R. 1560 allows private-sector companies to voluntarily share cyber threat indicators with other companies and the federal government; however, it prevents this information from being shared directly with NSA or the Department of Defense. Further, the government cannot force private-sector entities to share information.

H.R. 1560 also requires all personal information to be stripped out before sharing takes place, and includes two layers of privacy protection to ensure this occurs. First, companies are required to remove personal information before they share the cyber threat indicators with the government. Then, before the government agency can share the information with any other agency, they must perform a second check to ensure all personal information is stripped.

If an intentional privacy violation were to occur, H.R. 1560 permits individuals to sue the government in federal court. Additionally, while the bill provides liability protections for private-sector companies that share information in good faith, it does not shield these companies if there is willful misconduct.

H.R. 1560 passed the House by a bipartisan vote of 307 to 116.

###