- Apr 24, 2013
- 1,200
- Content source
- http://www.wired.com/2015/09/jeb-bush-stop-demonizing-nsa/
Jeb Bush has been cozying up to Silicon Valley this election season, but his newly announced cybersecurity platform isn’t likely to win him many fans within the tech industry. In a lengthy post detailing his plans today, the former governor advocated for increased government surveillance, writing, “The National Security Agency and Cyber Command are on the front lines of defending the United States against cyberthreats. We must stop demonizing these quiet intelligence professionals and start giving them the tools they need.” But Bush is light on details as to what those tools would be.
Insert much gnashing of teeth by American tech companies and privacy advocates here.
In the post-Edward Snowden era, tech giants like Apple and Microsoft have become increasingly vocal about the need to protect user data from the prying eyes of the government. Meanwhile, privacy experts have panned proposed legislation like the CISA Security Bill, insisting that it creates too many surveillance loopholes for the government. Bush, on the other hand, argues in his new proposal that the President should push Senate Democrats who oppose the bill “to allow this bill to come to the Senate floor for a vote.”
Bush is likely all too aware of the reaction these suggestions might receive from the tech world. That may explain why he also included a promise that seems out of place in a plan about cybersecurity: to “remove barriers to innovation in the tech industry.” This appears to be Bush’s way of softening the blow from the rest of his platform.
Bush is far from alone in this approach to cybersecurity. During last month’s Republican debates, former HP CEO Carly Fiorina emphasized the importance of tearing down the so-called “cyberwalls” that tech companies put up to protect themselves from government requests for data. And new Jersey governor Chris Christie and Florida Senator Marco Rubio have also called for increased intelligence capabilities.
For privacy concerned technologists in search of a conservative candidate, at least there’s always Rand Paul.
