WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, R-Miss., today voted in favor of bipartisan legislation to help stop future cyber-attacks through the sharing of information between the public and private sectors. The measure, titled the “Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 (CISA),” S. 754, would also put in place important privacy protections for Americans. The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 74-21.

“The number of private companies and government agencies that have been victims of cyberattacks in recent years is alarming,” Wicker said. “Those attacks have had serious, long-term repercussions on our economy and national security, not to mention dangers for individual Americans. This bill, which was passed by the Senate today, would help stop those attacks before they happen. It also strikes an important balance between safeguarding civil liberties and protecting American interests by ensuring that the government and the private sector can work together.”

The bill is authored by Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. The bill was reported out of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence in March 2015 by a vote of 14-1.

Highlights of the bill:

• All information sharing is completely voluntary. No company is compelled to provide information to the government or any other company.
• CISA does not provide any way for the government to monitor any personal records, including library and book records, gun sales, tax records, educational records, or medical records.
• CISA requires private companies and the government to review all information prior to sharing in order to remove any irrelevant personally-identifiable information that may be contained in cyber threat indicators or defensive measures.
• CISA does not allow the government to monitor private networks or computers.
• CISA does not let the government shut down websites or require companies to turn over personal information.
• CISA does not permit the government to retain or use cyber threat information for anything other than cybersecurity purposes.
• CISA provides rigorous oversight and requires regular reports from heads of agencies, inspectors general, and the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to ensure that privacy is protected in any voluntary sharing that occurs.