American Civil Liberties Union

Tomorrow, the House of Representatives is scheduled to begin debating the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, authored by Reps. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.). In the name of cybersecurity, the legislation threatens to blow a hole through every privacy law on the books and allow companies to share customers' private information with the US military. It's not pretty.

Washington is in the midst of debating something called “cybersecurity.” But that term actually includes several very separate and distinct problems that call for very different solutions. Not only does conflating them confuse the issue — it also has very distinct political consequences. So let’s unpack the separate meanings of the term.

1. Criminal and malicious online behavior
As every computer owner knows, internet security is a very real problem for individual households and businesses. The open architecture of computers and the internet has led to an explosion of innovation, collaboration, and creativity — but the very openness that has fuelled so much innovation has also made us vulnerable to viruses, spyware, and other forms of malware. These problems are endemic among home computers and among a surprising number of professionally managed institutional machines as well. Much of this is due to the failure to perform basic computer security.

In the digital age that we live in today, we are constantly exposing our personal information online. From using cell phones and GPS devices to online shopping and sending e-mail, the things we do and say online leave behind ever-growing trails of personal information. The ACLU believes that Americans shouldn’t have to choose between using new technology and keeping control of your private information. Each week, we feature some of the most interesting news related to technology and civil liberties that we’ve spotted from the previous week.