Congress just attached the CLOUD Act to the 2,232 page, must-pass omnibus package. It's on page 2,201.
The so-called CLOUD Act would hand police departments in the U.S. and other countries new powers to directly collect data from tech companies instead of requiring them to first get a warrant. It would even let foreign governments wiretap inside the U.S. without having to comply with U.S. Wiretap Act restrictions.
Major tech companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Oath are supporting the bill because it makes their lives easier by relinquishing their responsibility to protect their users’ data from cops. And they’ve been throwing their lobby power behind getting the CLOUD Act attached to the omnibus government spending bill.
Read more about the CLOUD Act from EFF here and here, and the ACLU here and here.
There's certainly MANY other bad things in this omnibus package. But don't lose sight of this one. Passing the CLOUD Act would impact all of our privacy and would have serious implications.
cleantone on March 22nd, 2018 at 13:15 UTC »
We really need to stop this bullshit method of attaching acts to other bills. It’s so fucked.
crudoss on March 22nd, 2018 at 12:53 UTC »
Internet is over. Pack up your things.
Rethawan on March 22nd, 2018 at 10:34 UTC »
Have you guys read this? Seems bizarre that a company like Apple that advocates for privacy and security (encryption) would stand behind this and essentially compromise the very foundation of civil liberty. This essentially goes against what they stood for in the San Bernardino case.
The so-called CLOUD Act would hand police departments in the U.S. and other countries new powers to directly collect data from tech companies instead of requiring them to first get a warrant. It would even let foreign governments wiretap inside the U.S. without having to comply with U.S. Wiretap Act restrictions.
Here's the actual bill
The Cloud Act Is a Dangerous Piece of Legislation