Cybersecurity Act of 2015: Privacy, Liability, and Info Sharing
This paper analyzes the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015 (H.R. 1731), widely regarded as the most significant federal cybersecurity legislation enacted to date. The paper examines how the Act establishes an information-sharing framework between the Department of Homeland Security's NCCIC and private-sector organizations, while building in liability protections and privacy safeguards to address civil liberties concerns. It reviews the ACLU's rare endorsement of the Act, the specific provisions protecting individuals and businesses from civil and criminal liability, and the Act's broader role in strengthening national cybersecurity infrastructure, intergovernmental coordination, and first-responder preparedness through the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium.
- Introduction to the Cybersecurity Act of 2015: Overview of H.R. 1731 and its federal significance
- Privacy Protections and Civil Liberties Safeguards: How the Act addresses privacy concerns and liability
- The Threat Landscape That Drove the Legislation: Cyberattacks on major companies and national infrastructure
- Addressing Surveillance Concerns: Why civil liberties groups cautiously endorsed the Act
- Benefits for Businesses and Private-Sector Entities: Civil, criminal liability protections for companies sharing data
- Strengthening National Cybersecurity Infrastructure: Intergovernmental coordination and R&D funding priorities
- The National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium: First-responder training and national cybersecurity resilience
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What makes this paper effective
- Balances competing interests by acknowledging civil liberties concerns and then systematically explaining how specific legislative provisions address each one, which lends credibility to its pro-Act position.
- Uses concrete, relatable examples — such as a hypothetical attack on air traffic control systems — to make abstract cybersecurity threats tangible for a general audience.
- Draws on a range of credible sources including the Congressional Budget Office, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, and the ACLU's tacit endorsement to support its analytical claims.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates effective use of counterargument and rebuttal. Rather than ignoring objections from privacy advocates, it foregrounds those objections early and then systematically addresses each one using evidence from the legislative text, the CBO, and civil liberties organizations. This technique strengthens the overall argument by preemptively neutralizing opposition.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens by defining and contextualizing the Act, then moves through privacy and liability provisions, the threat environment that motivated the legislation, surveillance concerns, business implications, intergovernmental coordination, and finally first-responder preparedness. Each section adds a distinct dimension to the central claim that the Act balances security and civil liberties effectively. The conclusion returns to the preparedness theme, reinforcing the paper's homeland security framing.
Introduction to the Cybersecurity Act of 2015
One of the most important security-related pieces of legislation recently passed by Congress is H.R. 1731: the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015, also known simply as the Cybersecurity Act of 2015. The Act has widely been considered a "landmark cybersecurity information sharing legislation" (Abascal, Archie, Crawford, et al., 2016) and "the most significant piece of federal cyber-related legislation enacted to date" (Sullivan & Cromwell LLP, 2015, p. 1). It is one of the first and strongest attempts to federalize cybersecurity in the broader interests of counterterrorism and national security. The Act specifies the role the Department of Homeland Security plays in coordinating information-sharing efforts.
Most significantly, the Act requires that the Department of Homeland Security's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) interact with non-federal and private-sector organizations for comprehensive information sharing. What this means for individuals and businesses is that we are now better equipped to cooperate with the federal government in terms of information sharing, including divulging any information requested by the NCCIC. The Act does not mandate that any organization share data with the government. However, it does ensure that individuals and companies are protected from liability when information is shared. The Act includes specific liability and information privacy protection provisions to facilitate information sharing from the private sector. Without these provisions, the private sector would fear repercussions from sharing information. The Cybersecurity Act of 2015 therefore offers an ideal balance between privacy protections and national security needs.
Privacy Protections and Civil Liberties Safeguards
Initially, the Act had "raised concerns among privacy advocates" (Zakrzewski, 2015, p. 1). These concerns stemmed from the fact that when organizations in either the public or private sector share information with the Department of Homeland Security, there is some potential for that information to contain personal data. By including provisions related to the roles of the Chief Privacy Officer and the Chief Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Officer — who are charged with reviewing and assessing how the Act has been implemented and any privacy-related consequences or concerns it has raised — the Act offers a reasonable compromise that should appeal to most Americans.
Moreover, the Act protects organizations from liability, with the only exception being cases involving "willful misconduct" ("H.R. 1731 — National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015," 2015). Another way the Act protects Americans from privacy infringements is that it holds the government liable "if an agency or department violates privacy and civil liberty guidelines and restrictions on the use of information required by the bill" (Congressional Budget Office, 2015). For this reason, even the most vigilant privacy watchdog groups have offered tacit, cautionary support for the Act (Zakrzewski, 2015). The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) even gave its "blessing" to the Act — "a rare occurrence for a cyber bill" (Bennett & Marcos, 2015, p. 1). Anyone concerned about how the Act impacts their own privacy should be reassured that personal information is actually better protected now than ever before.
The Threat Landscape That Drove the Legislation
Prior to this Act, government and private entities were vulnerable to cyberattacks that could undermine counterterrorism efforts and cause significant disruption to basic public infrastructure, including transportation and communication networks and banking systems. Ancillary problems such as identity theft can also occur when a private or government entity is under cyberattack. A series of serious attacks on Sony Entertainment, Anthem, Home Depot, and JPMorgan Chase made it abundantly clear that greater coordination and information sharing was needed to protect Americans from cyberattacks (Bennett & Marcos, 2015). President Obama responded quickly with an executive order that led to preliminary drafts of the Cybersecurity Act, and Congress passed the Act with a near-unanimous 355–63 vote.
References
Abascal, M. A., Archie, J. C., Crawford, G. E., et al. (2016). What you need to know about the Cybersecurity Act of 2015. Lexology. https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=71db9ab9-d14b-470c-8e9b-c94b29065a94
Bennett, C. & Marcos, C. (2015). Cyber threat-sharing bill heads to Senate. The Hill. http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/house/239856-house-sends-cybersecurity-bill-to-senate
Congressional Budget Office. (2015). H.R. 1731, National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015. https://www.cbo.gov/publication/50116
"H.R. 1731 — National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act of 2015." Congress.gov. https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1731
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. (2015). The Cybersecurity Act of 2015.
Zakrzewski, C. (2015). House passes complementary cyber information-sharing bill. TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2015/04/23/house-passes-complementary-cyber-information-sharing-bill/
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