Wyden keeps quiet on backing Lieberman bill

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is still keeping mum about whether he will back cybersecurity legislation that the Senate is expected to consider at the end of the month.

Wyden has raised concerns about the information-sharing section of Sen. Joe Lieberman's (I-Conn.) cybersecurity bill, arguing that it would infringe on citizens' privacy rights. The Oregon Democrat led the fight against anti-piracy legislation that died earlier this year and has vowed to continue the same battle against any cybersecurity bill that threatens American's privacy online.

Wyden has been working with Lieberman and other co-sponsors of the bill to address his privacy concerns, and said those talks are still continuing.

"I'm certainly not going to make any judgements at this point, but discussions are ongoing," Wyden said. "I'll have more to say, but I'm not going to make any announcements about my position today."

However, Wyden said he is optimistic that stronger privacy protections will ultimately be included in the bill. He said recent polling has shown that Americans are very concerned about how cybersecurity legislation will affect their privacy rights online, which adds "ammunition" to the push for stronger privacy safeguards in the Lieberman's measure.

"That's going to give us more momentum to get a strong privacy package," he said.

A spokeswoman for Lieberman said the senator and co-sponsors of his cybersecurity bill have "long been working with several senators and privacy and civil liberties groups" to address their concerns.

The information-sharing section of Lieberman's bill is aimed at making it easier for the government and industry to share data about cyberthreats. Wyden has argued that the section needs to include more specific language about what type of information is collected about people and how the government intends to use that data.

In an effort to thwart potential opposition, Lieberman said he is currently working with the other co-sponsors of his bill on a draft that will include changes to the information-sharing and critical infrastructure sections. According to Lieberman, the Senate will begin consideration of his bill by the end of next week.

This story was updated at 4:24 p.m.