Crossposted at burn after writing
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) is back with a new anti-privacy bill that's been on the radar of civil liberties organizations for several months now, though it hasn't yet received much attention in the mainstream media. He introduced H.R. 1981, euphemistically the "Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011" back in May 2011 and on July 28, 2011 it was passed onto the floor by the House Judiciary Committee where it is currently awaiting action.
The ACLU explains the ostensible purpose behind the proposed bill as well as the current privacy-related problems with the amended version:
The bill, HR 1981, the "Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011,"– if only it were that narrow! – is a direct assault on the privacy of Internet users and overlooks some key fixes that could actually help to address the very real problem of child exploitation.We blogged about the bill's serious privacy implications back in May. Despite some recent amendments, the legislation still has fundamental problems.
The bill requires Internet companies to log all temporarily assigned network addresses, also known as IP addresses, for a minimum of one year. IP addresses directly link individuals to their online activity and can reveal very private information about everything from health concerns to political interests. And once all of this personal information about innocent Americans is collected, it would be available to law enforcement for any purpose.
Broad immunity provisions for companies in the bill also threaten to undermine state data breach laws and data security protections as well as potentially immunize companies against tort and other claims. At a time when high profile data breaches are daily news stories and identity theft is widespread, this provision seems ill-considered at best.
The bill also ignore steps recommended by the Government Accountability Office to make child exploitation investigations more effective, including devoting more resources to forensic analysis of computers and better coordination between law enforcement agencies.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation had this to say back when the bill was voted out of Committee:
