2016 presidential candidates on technology, privacy, and cybersecurity

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2016 Presidential Election
Date: November 8, 2016

Candidates
Winner: Donald Trump (R)
Hillary Clinton (D) • Jill Stein (G) • Gary Johnson (L) • Vice presidential candidates

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This page was current as of the 2016 election.

With 87 percent of Americans using the internet, according to a 2016 study from the Pew Research Center, the debate over how to balance national security interests and privacy gained increased attention in the 2016 presidential race.[1] The conversation was primarily fueled by Edward Snowden's leak of classified information about the National Security Agency's global surveillance programs in 2013 and the specter of cyberattacks.

Advances in technology also created space for greater freedom of expression and commercial opportunity, leading the presidential candidates to weigh in on issues like internet censorship, the use of social media by terrorist organizations for recruitment purposes, and net neutrality.

See what the 2016 presidential candidates and their respective party platforms said about technology, privacy, and cybersecurity below.

Interested in reading more about the 2016 candidates' stances on related issues?
Ballotpedia also covered what the candidates said about foreign affairs, national security, ISIS and terrorism, the Constitution, and civil liberties.

OVERVIEW OF CANDIDATE POSITIONS
  • Hillary Clinton released a technology platform in June 2016 that included calls to expand access to high-speed internet, fight for internet freedom abroad, and defend net neutrality.
  • Donald Trump said that he would be open to closing off access to portions of the internet as part of a counterterrorism strategy.
  • Jill Stein opposed the Patriot Act, called for the pardon of Edward Snowden, and supported net neutrality.
  • Gary Johnson said that he would consider pardoning Edward Snowden and expressed opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act (PIPA).
  • Democratic ticket[edit]

    Democratic Party Hillary Clinton[edit]

    caption
    • On September 5, 2016, Hillary Clinton compared the alleged Russian hack of the Democratic National Committee to "Watergate only now in cyber time." She added that Donald Trump's relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin "raises even more serious questions about Trump" and that it was "interesting that this activity has happened around the time Trump became the nominee."[2]
    • Clinton said on August 31, 2016, that the U.S. should "lead the world in setting the rules in cyberspace" and treat hacks like it would a traditional attack on the country. “As president, I will make it clear that the United States will treat cyberattacks just like any other attack. We will be ready with serious political, economic and military responses," she said.[3]
    • In June 2016, Clinton released a platform on technology and innovation that included calls to expand access to high-speed internet, fight for internet freedom abroad, and defend net neutrality.[4] According to her platform, Clinton planned to implement the following policies:
      • "Hillary will finish the job of connecting America’s households to the internet, committing that by 2020, 100 percent of households in America will have the option of affordable broadband with speeds sufficient to meet families’ needs."
      • "As Secretary of State, Hillary boldly elevated Internet Freedom to the top levels of American foreign policy. She will continue this work as President -- fighting for Internet Freedom, insisting nations respect human rights online, and opposing efforts to block internet access or shutdown social media."
      • "Hillary will build on the U.S. Cybersecurity National Action Plan by empowering a federal Chief Information Security Officer and upgrading government-wide cybersecurity."
      • "Hillary will seek to modernize the MLAT system, and will pursue agreements with likeminded countries for compliance with requests for data by law enforcement, in a manner that respects privacy, security and human rights."
      • "Hillary believes that the government has an obligation to protect the open internet, and she strongly supports the FCC decision under the Obama Administration to adopt strong network neutrality rules."
      • "Advances in computing like the rise of 'big data' and the Internet of Things is yielding transformative benefits, but raising important questions about privacy. Hillary’s approach to privacy will be to encourage high standards—and affirm strong consumer protection—through regulatory enforcement in an adaptive manner that doesn’t stifle innovation."
      • "Hillary supports creating a national commission on digital security, so that the technology and public safety communities can work together on solutions that address law enforcement needs while preserving individual privacy and security."
    • Read more of Hillary Clinton's public statements on technology, privacy, and cybersecurity.

    Democratic Party Tim Kaine[edit]

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    • During a Center for Strategic and International Studies event in Washington, D.C., on May 24, 2016, Tim Kaine said that sequestration was preventing federal agencies from upgrading their IT systems to make them more secure and efficient. “Any cuts across the board on anything is foolish from a management standpoint, especially areas where there’s a wide recognition that we are doing too little,” Kaine said.[7] He also praised the idea of creating a commission of technology, cryptography, law enforcement, intelligence, privacy, global commerce, and national security experts to investigate ways to grant law enforcement access to electronic communications without ceding privacy, as proposed in a bill introduced by U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) and U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.). "I think it's a good idea," Kaine said. "Congress would benefit from a commission with people who understand" privacy and security.[8]

    Republican ticket[edit]

    Republican Party Donald Trump[edit]

    caption
    • Trump discussed cybersecurity at a campaign event in Virginia on October 3, 2016. Speaking before a crowd of veterans, he said, “Cyberattacks from foreign governments — especially China, Russia, North Korea, along with nonstate terrorist actors and organized criminal groups — constitute one of our most critical national security concerns. The scope of our cybersecurity problem is enormous. Our government, our businesses, our trade secrets and our citizens — most sensitive information — are all facing constant cyberattacks and reviews by the enemy. ... We should turn cyberwarfare into one of our greatest weapons against the terrorists.”[10]
    • When asked to expand on his cyberterrorism policy during a town hall event on September 6, 2016, Trump said, "[Y]ou know cyber is becoming so big today. It's becoming something that a number of years ago, short number of years ago, wasn't even a word. And now the cyber is so big. And you know you look at what they're doing with the Internet, how they're taking and recruiting people through the Internet. And part of it is the psychology because so many people think they're winning."[11]
    • In July 2016, Trump called on Russia to locate emails from Clinton's tenure as secretary of state. “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press," he said.[12] Shortly after, he said that he was being sarcastic about the request.[13]
    • Trump called for a boycott of Apple on February 19, 2016, to put pressure on the company to cooperate with the government, which wanted Apple's help to hack into the iPhone of one of the San Bernardino, California, shooters. "Boycott Apple until such time as they give that information," Trump said at a campaign event in South Carolina. "Apple ought to give the security for that phone, OK. What I think you ought to do is boycott Apple until such a time as they give that security number. How do you like that? I just thought of it. Boycott Apple," Trump said. Apple argued against cooperating with the government in a February 16, 2016, open letter citing concerns that the move would render all iPhones vulnerable by creating a master key that would be able to open other phones.[14]
    • Read more of Donald Trump's public statements on technology, privacy, and cybersecurity.

    Republican Party Mike Pence[edit]

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    • During the vice presidential debate on October 4, 2016, Pence requested time to discuss cybersecurity. He said, "First is Donald trump just spoke about this issue this week. We have got to bring together the best resources in this country to understand that cyberwarefare is the new warfare of the asymmetrical enemy that we face in this country. And I look forward, if I’m privileged to be in this role of working with you (Tim Kaine) in the senate, to make sure that we resource that effort." Pence continued, "I will also tell you that it’s important in this moment that Hillary Clinton had a private server in her home that had classified information on it about drone strikes, emails from the president of the United States of America were on there. Her private server was subject to being hacked. We could put cybersecurity first if we just make sure the Secretary of State doesn’t have a private server."[16]
    • On April 20, 2016, Pence announced the creation of the Indiana Executive Council on Cybersecurity, a 23-member public private partnership, dedicated to protecting Indiana from online threats. “Online interaction is vital to nearly every aspect of our economy, including utilities and financial sectors,” Pence said. “While risk can never be completely eliminated, Indiana will employ all available tools to manage cyber threats.”[17]
    • As governor of Indiana, Pence supported tax breaks to help create information security jobs to the state. He also supported increasing resources for law enforcement to combat hacking.[18]

    Green ticket[edit]

    Green Party Jill Stein[edit]

    Jill-Stein-circle.png
    • In an op-ed published by The Guardian on September 13, 2016, Jill Stein had said that she would "immediately pardon Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning and John Kiriakou for their important work in exposing the massive, systematic violation of our constitutional rights" and "invite them to the White House to publicly acknowledge their heroism” if she were elected president. She added that she would “create a role for them in the Stein-Baraka Green party administration to help us create a modern framework that protects personal privacy while still conducting effective investigations where warranted.”[19]
    • In early 2016, Stein expressed opposition to the FBI demanding that Apple assist the agency in unlocking the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter. "The questionable value to the FBI investigation of breaching the security of this one device does not justify the possible exposure of millions of people to government invasion of privacy. When a copy of the tool the FBI wants Apple to create is obtained by foreign intelligence services, dictatorial regimes worldwide will be able to use it against dissidents and political opponents - not to mention American visitors and businesses," she said in a statement. Stein continued, "The appetite of the FBI and CIA for data on our citizens is limitless, and this case is only the latest of their assaults upon our privacy. Real terrorists can move on to other encryption techniques that are beyond the reach of the FBI. It is the American people who will ultimately be the ones exposed by this move."[20]
    • Stein expressed support for net neutrality in an interview with The Real News Network on February 16, 2015, applauding the movement to fight "back privatization of the internet." She explained, "But it wasn't going to happen without us. It was really important. And FCC got some 4 million, is it, 4 million letters, which were, like, 99.999 percent to preserve net neutrality. So we are not--you know, like, in the words of Alice Walker, biggest way we can give up power is by not knowing we have it. We have the numbers."[21]
    • In a January 2012 interview with Steve Horn of Truthout, Stein supported the repeal of the Patriot Act. Stein said, "The Patriot Act symbolizes the death of the Fourth Amendment and the right to judicial review, and the right to a trial has just been sabotaged by Obama. It is as if a coup has occurred. Any one of these alone is bad enough, but when you add them all up, we are on some pretty thin ice right now as a free society. Our freedom is hanging in thin air right now. There is now a legal basis for curtailing that freedom."[22]
    • Read more of Jill Stein's public statements on technology, privacy, and cybersecurity.

    Green Party Ajamu Baraka[edit]

    captin


    • Baraka tweeted about the Patriot Act on October 9, 2016. He wrote, "With a #GreenNewDeal justice for all includes repealing the Patriot Act, ending the death penalty and demilitarizing the police."[24]
    • On October 4, 2016, Baraka tweeted, "Technology allows the people to amplify the voices that the mainstream are trying to silence." He was referring to his participation in "Expand the Debate" presented by Democracy Now!. The programming aired at the same time as the 2016 vice presidential debate and technology allowed Ajamu Baraka to "debate" Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Mike Pence.[25]
    • Read more about Ajamu Baraka.



    Libertarian ticket[edit]

    Libertarian Party Gary Johnson[edit]

    Gary-Johnson-(New Mexico)-circle.png
    • Gary Johnson said on May 31, 2016, that he would have considered pardoning Edward Snowden for releasing information about the National Security Agency's surveillance programs. "This is someone who has divulged information that we would not know about currently — and that's the United States government spying on all of us as U.S. citizens," he said. "I don't want to see him in prison."[26]
    • On March 23, 2016, Johnson expressed support for Apple's resistance to unlocking an iPhone for an FBI investigation of the San Bernadino shooters. He said in an interview with Breitbart, "They’re not providing one key to open the door, they’re providing a master key that will open all the doors.” Johnson added that he was “slain by the fact that the FBI does not have the capability to do this themselves."[27]
    • According to his 2016 presidential campaign website, Johnson had "consistently supported Internet freedom because the progress of our society and the privacy of our personal lives depend on it." It noted that Johnson disagreed with S 754 - the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, governmental control of a "kill switch" for the internet, and government access to encrypted and private data. "Security is important, for sure. But throwing away our right to privacy has the opposite effect of protecting our freedom. That’s why the Fourth Amendment says that the government can’t snoop into our private lives unless they have a good reason to do so. Besides, is the government more likely to secure our freedom by collecting trillions of bits of unmanageable data, or by identifying real threats and focusing their efforts on properly warranted searches," the website stated.[28]

    Libertarian Party Bill Weld[edit]

    William-Weld-circle.png
    • Interviewing Bill Weld in October 2016, Glenn Beck said, "Russia says that they are at war with us, with digits, ones, and zeros. We have said last week or week before last that we were going to respond to their hacking into our systems. Where does this go, and how do we solve this?" Weld replied, "Well, you know, I think the top US intelligence services unanimously have said the Russians are behind this. They’re using — they can identify the services that are hacking in. And it is the Russians. And we haven’t really seen convincing denials out of the Russians. So I’m persuaded it is the Russians. President Obama is talking about openly about what he’s going to do to get back at the Russians. You know, restrained reaction or some other reaction. Sanctions. Yada, yada. But it seems to be clear that it is the Russians hacking into the electoral system of the United States. That’s very scary." Beck later asked what advice Weld, as vice president, would give to the president on how to respond to Russia. Weld responded, "Well, I would want to talk to the technical people about some maximum crypto system that could, you know, keep us from having the stuff hacked in by ordinary intelligence agencies of a hostile foreign power. If that can’t be done, then you’ve got to think of a whole different way of classifying your information or keeping your information. Make it so that there’s nothing so precious there, that if they can get into the system, that we’re up the creek without a paddle."[31]
    • Read more about Bill Weld.

    Recent news[edit]

    The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 2016 presidential candidates technology privacy cybersecurity. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

    See also[edit]

    Footnotes[edit]

    1. Pew Research Center, "13% of Americans don’t use the internet. Who are they?" September 7, 2016
    2. CNN, "Hillary Clinton: Timing of Russian hack aimed at helping Trump," September 6, 2016
    3. The Hill, "Clinton: Treat cyberattacks 'like any other attack,'" August 31, 2016
    4. Hillary for America, "Hillary Clinton’s Initiative on Technology & Innovation," June 28, 2016
    5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
    6. Democratic Party, "The 2016 Democratic Party Platform," accessed September 21, 2016
    7. Tim Kaine United States Senator for Virginia, "2017 BUDGET IS ‘MAKE OR BREAK’ FOR CYBERSECURITY," May 24, 2016
    8. FCW, "Kaine: Congress is nearsighted on privacy," May 24, 2016
    9. The Daily Dot, "Senators push to better protect victims of OPM hack," July 10, 2015
    10. The New York Times, "Donald Trump Says a Strong Defense Against Cyberattacks Is Essential," October 3, 2016
    11. The Washington Post, "Donald Trump doesn’t have much of an opinion on this new-fangled ‘cyber’ thing," September 6, 2016
    12. The New York Times, "Donald Trump Calls on Russia to Find Hillary Clinton’s Missing Emails," July 28, 2016
    13. CNN, "Trump walks back email hack comments, but damage lingers," July 28, 2016
    14. CNN, "Trump calls for Apple boycott," February 19, 2016
    15. Republican Party, "The 2016 Republican Party Platform," accessed September 21, 2016
    16. Inverse, "Mike Pence Brings Up Cyber War, Pivots to Clinton’s Emails," October 4, 2016
    17. Government Technology, "Indiana's New Cybersecurity Council Will Beef Up State's Cyber Infrastructure," April 20, 2016
    18. Engadget, "Where the would-be vice presidents stand on cybersecurity," August 5, 2016
    19. The Guardian, "Pardon Edward Snowden, now," September 13, 2016
    20. Jill 2016, "FBI: Drop the iPhone lawsuit," accessed September 20, 2016
    21. The Real News Network, "Why Build the Green Party? - Jill Stein on Reality Asserts Itself (2/3)," February 16, 2015
    22. Truthout, "The Party of Our Discontent? An Interview With Green Party Candidate Jill Stein," January 29, 2012
    23. Green Party, "The 2016 Green Party Platform on Democracy," accessed September 20, 2016
    24. Twitter, "Ajamu Baraka," October 9, 2016
    25. Twitter, "Ajamu Baraka," October 4, 2016
    26. Newsmax, "Libertarian Candidate Gary Johnson: Pardon Edward Snowden," May 31, 2016
    27. Breitbart, "Gov. Gary Johnson Stands Firmly with Apple in Encryption Battle," March 23, 2016
    28. Gary Johnson for President, "Internet Freedom and Security," accessed September 20, 2016
    29. Twitter, "Gov. Gary Johnson," January 18, 2012
    30. Libertarian Party, "The 2016 Libertarian Party Platform," accessed September 20, 2016
    31. Glenn Beck, "Glenn Talks With Libertarian VP Candidate Bill Weld About Amendments and Aleppo," October 17, 2016



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