Advocacy groups call for repeal Cybersecurity Act of 2015

A coalition that includes the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), FreedomWorks, and other digital privacy advocacy groups sent a letter to members of the U.S. House of Representatives urging them to support a bipartisan bill that would repeal the Cybersecurity Act of 2015.

The coalition wrote that the act, signed into law in December, contained secretly negotiated provisions that were unlikely to increase the government's ability to detect, intercept and thwart cyberattacks, but would institute broad and undefined data-collection capabilities.

“Questions of cybersecurity and privacy should be debated openly in a manner that allows legislators and the public to criticize and participate,” the letter said.

The coalition also said the law provided a new avenue to expand surveillance on innocent Americans, didn't provide reasonable limits for information sharing, and allowed law enforcement and intelligence groups to use information for purposes unrelated to cybersecurity.