No Digital Big Brother: Keep the Military Out of Your Email

This is it: after months of pitched battles, the Senate is set to vote on cybersecurity this week. Hundreds of thousands of Internet users have spoken out, and Senators listened. The Cybersecurity Act of 2012 has privacy safeguards that don’t exist in any other cybersecurity bill.
But everything could change in the next 5 days.

Here’s what we have to do to defend privacy

1. Amend the bill to put in stronger safeguards for privacy. The Franken-Paul amendment would ensure that companies do not have new, overbroad authority to monitor and even block our private communications. Senator Wyden has also sponsored an amendment to promote location privacy. We’ve got to rally together to pass these privacy protections, especially the Franken-Paul Amendment.
2. Stop attempts to remove the privacy protections. Some Senators are pushing an anti-privacy agenda that could undo months of effort. Senators John McCain and Kay Bailey Hutchison have put forth amendments to hand the reins of America’s cybersecurity systems to military intelligence agencies like the National Security Agency—the very agency responsible for the warrantless wiretapping program instituted under the Bush administration. They want to undo all the privacy protections we’ve won and turn the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 into another Big Brother Bill, just like CISPA in the House.
3. Keep opposing the bill. We need to make it clear to Senators in every state Internet users everywhere oppose this bill. It’s dangerous and it’s unnecessary.

How we can do it

Together, we’ve generated tens of thousands of emails against this bill. But now it’s too late for emails.

Phone calls.

We need to generate thousands of calls.  The American Library Association has an awesome tool that will call your phone for you, give you talking points, and connect you to your Senators. Visit ALA now.

Twitter.

When we launched out Congressional Twitter Handle Detection Tool to fight CISPA, the results were extraordinary. Now we’re bringing it back for then newest fight in the cybersecurity debate. Tweet at your Senator now.

See cyberspying.eff.org for the latest alerts!

Spread the word. 

We need to get the word out to as many people as possible. Will you share this page?
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This is our last chance to stop them. Join EFF, the American Library Association, Fight for the Future, Demand Progress and others in calling on the Senate to stand up for privacy. Tell your Senators to support the Franken-Paul Amendment and other amendments to support privacy, reject anti-privacy proposals, and oppose the Cybersecurity Act as a whole.

Posted in: hacking news