Many Texans are not aware that Texas has its own version of the federal CISPA act which is on the verge of passing in the Texas Senate this week.SB1052 gives Texas law enforcement the power to seize your online communications and shut down websites and servers without due process of law or going through the normal process of obtaining a warrant. Among the bad ideas in the bill are:
• Requires any Internet provider that serves Texans to hand over private communication and files.
• Sets no standard for warrants for such seizures, enabling arbitrary violations of Texans’ privacy.
• Forces Internet providers to respond within 15-30 days (and sometimes 4-30), giving them almost no time to protect information not targeted.
• Makes it a crime for an officer, director or owner of a company to not comply with the request within the 15-30 day window.
• Opens the door to politically-motivated seizures of online communication.
If we don’t act now to generate some pressure on our State Senators this terrible piece of legislation which will diminish online liberty for every Texan is likely to pass. It has already passed the House and there’s very little time to stop it in the Senate.
Please act now by using this form to email your State Senator. Change the text to express your personal concerns.