i2Coalition commends bi-partisan bill for striking balance between transparency and security.

Earlier today, members of both the House and Senate introduced new versions of the USA FREEDOM Act of 2015 that aims to end the bulk collection of American’s phone record data while increasing transparency and privacy protections for U.S. citizens. i2Coalition Chairman and co-founder Christian Dawson released the following statement in response to the proposed legislation:

The i2Coalition commends the House and Senate on the release of the USA FREEDOM Act of 2015. Maintaining the difficult balance between promoting transparency and preventing government overreach while strengthening our national security is a challenging endeavor and one we believe the USA FREEDOM Act of 2015 addresses far better than its predecessors.

The bipartisan bill includes the significant privacy and transparency protections lacking in last year’s House bill (H.R. 3361) while ending the NSA’s bulk collection of domestic phone record data – a timely issue of critical importance given the impending expiration of Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act.

The discovery of the NSA’s mass, warrantless surveillance and the bulk collection of citizen data has forever changed the way we view privacy and as a result, has shaken consumer confidence in the Cloud. This has a real impact on American businesses who are losing customers every day due to the threat of intrusive government surveillance. Increased transparency protections and an end to mass data collection are necessary in order to restore confidence in the Cloud and ensure American businesses remain globally competitive. Without it, we face job loss and a shrinking economy here at home.

On behalf of the companies – large and small – who build and maintain the nuts and bolts of the Internet, we believe the USA FREEDOM Act of 2015 takes vital steps forward and we stand ready to continue our work with Congress on additional reforms to promote transparency and ensure the continued competitiveness of US businesses.

About i2 Coalition:
The Internet Infrastructure Coalition (i2Coalition) supports those who build the nuts and bolts of the Internet, and we treat it like the noble profession that it is. We believe the continued growth of the Internet is vital for growing an environment of innovation and seek to engage in ways to foster success of the Internet and Internet infrastructure industry. We seek to influence decision makers to weigh decisions on whether they are good or bad for the Internet economy and its foundational industries. In short, we seek to foster growth within the Internet infrastructure industry by driving others to harness the Internet’s full potential.