ACLU Suing DOJ on Legal Memo Germane to Cybersecurity Information Sharing Bills
The ACLU said it filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Justice to “uncover” what a conferenced cybersecurity information sharing bill “will actually authorize" under DOJ interpretation of the bill. The House and Senate are in the process of…
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conferencing the House-passed Protecting Cyber Networks Act (HR-1560) and the Senate-passed Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (S-754). The ACLU’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, seeks “timely disclosure” under the Freedom of Information Act of a 2003 legal opinion from Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) interpreting “common commercial service agreements.” The ACLU said it’s concerned the opinion could result in a dangerous interpretation of a conferenced information sharing bill. Although the ACLU, other privacy groups and tech sector stakeholders opposed S-754 in the lead-up to that bill’s passage in October (see 1510280057), its controversial provisions “may pale in comparison to what the bill allows when read in conjunction” with the OLC opinion, the ACLU said in a blog post. “Before our lawmakers expand the government’s surveillance authority under the guise of cybersecurity legislation, shouldn’t we -- and the legislators themselves -- know what the real consequences will be?” DOJ didn't immediately comment.