Senate Intel panel releases final cyber bill text

The Senate Intelligence Committee released Tuesday the much-anticipated final language of its bill intended to enhance cybersecurity info-sharing between the public and private sectors.

The measure, known as the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act (CISA), would give companies legal liability protections when sharing cyber threat data with the government.

{mosads}It encourages companies to go through a Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but also allows for data to be shared non-electronically with intelligence agencies like the National Security Agency (NSA).

The Intelligence Committee approved CISA last Thursday by a 14-1 vote.

The markup was held up for several weeks over privacy concerns expressed by outside groups, some Senate Democrats and the White House.

Privacy advocates are hesitant to give the NSA any more outlets to collect Americans’ data.

The Intel panel’s top lawmakers — Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) — said they believe they’ve addressed many of those worries in the final bill.

The committee’s Democrats introduced 15 privacy-focused amendments during the markup, 12 of which were adopted in full or in part.

Whether lawmakers and outside groups with hesitations about CISA agree remains to be seen.

Read the bill here:

CISA 2015 as Filed