Future Tense

On Monday, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., spoke forcefully against cybersecurity legislation that, he says, violate Internet users’ privacy. The 12-minute speech encapsulates many arguments against CISPA and similar bills: Both CISPA and its Senate equivalent, he says, “subordinate all existing privacy rules and constitutional principles to the poorly defined interest of ‘cyber-security.’ ” He also warns of a “dystopian world where law enforcement evaluates your Internet activity for the potential that you might commit a crime.”

Cybersecurity is important, he emphasizes, but current proposals go well beyond what is necessary—and it’s possible to craft legislation that both secures the digital ecosystem while safeguarding privacy. “Bad Internet policy,” he says, “is increasingly premised on false choices.”

Via Techdirt.