The massive year-end spending bill encourages companies to share cyber threat information with the government.
The bill brings together three different versions that passed the House and Senate earlier this year with hefty bipartisan support.
The Cybersecurity Act of 2015 largely hews to the Senate version of the bill, which overcame concerns about privacy and transparency from technology companies, such as Apple and Yelp.
But it now also allows the president to designate an agency other than the civilian Homeland Security Department to act as a portal for sharing cyber threats with the government if necessary.
Companies are also assured they won't face liability for not acting on information received.
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, a privacy advocate and bill critic, says the measure is "even worse" today.
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden weighed in on the controversial cybersecurity bill in previous days, writing in a reddit thread saying, “CISA isn't a cybersecurity bill, it's a surveillance bill."
Snowden claims the bill allows for companies like Facebook, or AT&T to indiscriminately share private records about your online interactions and activities with the government.
He followed up with a Twitter campaign using the hashtag #stopCISA.
Congress just concealed an entire surveillance law within tomorrow's must-pass budget. https://t.co/goEZ6hJ416 #CISA pic.twitter.com/TQuQocg2kK
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 17, 2015
