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"If you're concerned about the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (better known as CISPA), you're not alone: the White House doesn't think all that much of it either.\nNational Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden told The Hill late Tuesday evening that any cybersecurity legislation that passes Congress ought to preserve Internet users' privacy while also setting cybersecurity standards for private firms that run critical infrastructure, such as electrical grids.\nHayden didn't single out CISPA by name, but she did say that American digital infrastructure can't \"be addressed by information sharing alone\" \u2014 the central tenet of CISPA. The bill is designed to allow and encourage private businesses and the government to share information about cybersecurity threats with one another. It doesn't set any security standards for private firms to meet. \nCISPA has been met with disdain from Internet privacy groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Technology and Progress, who argue the bill would allow the government to spy on citizens' emails and social media accounts in the name of national security. Hayden echoed those concerns.\n\"Also, while information sharing legislation is an essential component of comprehensive legislation to address critical infrastructure risks, information sharing provisions must include robust safeguards to preserve the privacy and civil liberties of our citizens,\" she told The Hill.\n\nSEE ALSO: Are You Worried CISPA Could Be Another SOPA? [POLL]\nHayden's comments came after House members were briefed by top members of the intelligence community on the country's need for bolstered cybersecurity defenses. A number of cybersecurity bills are currently floating around the House with varying potential of becoming law.\nEarlier this year, the White House came down against the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) that caught the ire of tens of thousands of Internet users.\nCISPA is expected to be introduced to the House early next week, and the authors have been rapidly introducing updated \"discussion drafts\" in an attempt to respond to the bill's critics.\nAre you glad the White House is anti-CISPA? Sound off in the comments below.\nImage courtesy of iStockphoto, lillisphotography"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2012/04/18/white-house-cispa/>