The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, otherwise known as CISPA, is a proposed law which would allow for the sharing of internet traffic with the U.S. government and technology and manufacturing companies. The main purpose of the bill is to help the U.S. government investigate cyber threats and ensure the security of networks against cyber attacks. It is also an attempt to ban U.S. bosses from requesting their employees’ social networking login information.

    The law was introduced on November 30, 2011 by Representative Michael Rogers and 111 co-sponsors. From there, it was passed by the House of Representatives on April 26, 2012, but was never passed by the U.S. Senate because President Barack Obama’s advisors told him to veto it. In February 2013, it was introduced again by Democrat Ed Perlmutter who said, “It helps the individual protect the right to privacy and it doesn’t allow the employer to impersonate that particular employee when other people are interacting with that person across social media platforms.” It was passed by the House of Representatives, but was defeated again by the Senate with a 224-189 vote against it.

    Although the act was turned down by the Senate and the White House, it is supported by many big name companies, such as Facebook, IBM, Intel, McAfee and Time Warner Cable.