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Top GOP senator touts cyber privacy bill

by Vicki Needham - 04/04/15 6:00 AM ET

A top Senate Republican on Saturday touted a major Senate cyber bill aimed at better protecting privacy.

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), chairman the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said a bipartisan measure recently approved by his panel takes the first step in cracking down on the theft of personal data and intellectual property.

“Cyber-criminals and our foreign adversaries are probing our computer systems and stealing our data,” he said in the GOP’s weekly address.

{mosads}“As a result, your social security number, addresses, date of birth, financial information, family history and more is available to hackers.”

He said companies like Target, Sony, JP Morgan and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield have been hacked, putting their customers’ information at risk.

Burr said the bill would create “a cybersecurity information-sharing environment that works much like a neighborhood watch program — allowing all participants to get a better understanding of the current cybersecurity threats that may be used against them.”

The nation’s biggest cyber weakness is that there isn’t an “accurate or real-time insight into the damage that’s caused by cyber-attacks,” he said.

“This threat is real, and the increasing number of attacks has a tangible impact on our economy and our national security.”

He said the bill requires a company to remove private data before sharing anything with the government. And companies would only be only allowed to pass along information directly related to a cyber-attack.

The bipartisan measure was spearheaded by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) and was approved 14-1 by the panel March 18.

Still, the bill drew fire from some privacy advocates who argued it would allow the National Security Agency to collect sensitive data on Americans.

“After hundreds of calls with the government, business community and civil liberties groups,” Burr said he is confident that the measure is “a balanced approach that will help your private information stay just that way – private.”

Tags Dianne Feinstein John McCain Richard Burr