Does New Cybersecurity Bill Infringe On Our Privacy?

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, known as CISPA, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives by a margin of 288 to 127 last week, according to a Wikepedia post.

This allows corporations to share customers’ personal data with other companies and even with the U.S. government. The bill, if it completes its passage through Congress and is signed into law, would allow this sharing even if the company has signed a contract vowing that it will not share the information.

As it stands, the bill makes this provision the standard, even over any agreement, and protects the entity violating the agreement from being held accountable. The wording reads, "Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a self-protected entity may, for cybersecurity purposes ... share such cyber threat information with any other entity, including the Federal Government."

What do you think? Is this bill necessary to afford the protections we need in these times? Or is it yet another bridge too far — an invasion of privacy that a contract should be able to protect?