Dive Brief:

• Some privacy groups are stepping up efforts against CISA, the cyber threat information sharing bill currently in Congress, CIO reports
• Meanwhile, several large IT companies, including Salesforce, Apple and IBM, have voiced support for the bill.
• Fight for the Future is asking organizations to boycott the tech companies supporting the bill.

Dive Insight:

CISA, which sets up incentives for businesses to share threat information with each other and with government agencies and would eventually result in tools to protect business and government networks, has been the subject of passionate lobbying by privacy groups over the past several months. Privacy advocates say the bill condones sharing personal information with the government, while businesses generally support the bill.

Fight for the Future says the legislation would "grant blanket immunity for American companies to participate in government mass surveillance programs like PRISM, without meaningfully addressing any of the fundamental cyber security problems we face in the U.S."

The Center for Democracy and Technology has said the bill's "broad use permissions suggest that the legislation is as much about surveillance as it is about cyber security."

Meanwhile, time is running short for CISA. The Senate still has to debate the bill’s 22 amendments before it can vote on it.