CCIA to President: Delay Surveillance Bill

File Under: 2006, CCIA, Privacy

Nov 14, 2006

Washington, D.C. – The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) urged the President of the United States to not push for warrantless electronic surveillance legislation in a letter to the White House yesterday.

The letter by CCIA’s President & CEO Ed Black warned that the legislation might be “rushed through the legislative process without due deliberation” and could threaten the privacy rights of American consumers. “Broad warrantless electronic surveillance could irrevocably sunder the public trust in the sanctity of civil rights, privacy and security in our modern information infrastructure,” Black wrote, arguing that the inevitable damage to the public’s trust in private networks would ultimately prove to be “bad for American businesses and our economy.”

CCIA has previously raised concerns regarding H.R. 5825, which drastically modifies the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA), and passed the House of Representatives, as well as S. 3931, under consideration by the Senate, which also amends FISA.