Senate Hearing Features 6 Security Hawks, Just 1 Privacy Expert
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security will be holding a hearing this Tuesday at 10 AM entitled “Cybersecurity: Preventing Terrorist Attacks and Protecting Privacy in Cyberspace.” What happens in this hearing will set the stage for legislation to regulate the internet and to regulate people on it.
How strongly will the hearing be dedicated to the notion of preventing attacks, a notion that sacrifices liberty for the sake of security? How strongly will the hearing be dedicated to the notion of protecting privacy, a notion that prioritizes individual liberty over a sense of safety? A good indication is the balance of witnesses set to testify before the committee. 6 of the 7 witnesses are people with jobs in the areas of security and enforcement. 4 witnesses come from the acronym realms of FBI, DOJ, DOD and DHS. 1 witness hails from the Internet Security Alliance, an organization representing corporations in military and telecommunications industries. 1 witness, Larry Wortzel, is a former military attache assigned to China who moved on to the Heritage Foundation before taking up a position on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
Only 1 witness, Gregory T. Nojeim, is a civil liberties advocate. Nojeim is a former legislative counsel with the ACLU and a current counsel with the Center for Democracy & Technology, where he focuses on Americans’ 4th Amendment constitutional protections from warrantless wiretapping and data mining.
Look here for a live webcast of the hearing tomorrow. Expect Greg Nojeim to have some interesting information about the impact of “cybersecurity” on Americans’ freedoms, but don’t expect him to have much time to mention it.
[...] Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security as they hold a hearing on cybersecurity. 6 of the 7 witnesses are either government security officials or representatives from corporate security firms. Just 1 [...]