Richard Clarke: Patriot Act not our biggest privacy threat

In an increasingly digital world, the real threat to citizens' privacy is data collection by corporations and not the Patriot Act, said former U.S. cybersecurity and counterterrorism advisor Richard Clarke.

Clarke, who ruffled Bush administration feathers when he complained that U.S. officials ignored warnings about the al Qaeda threat before the attacks, says Americans are safer from terrorism now, partly because of the Patriot Act. Critics, however, have maintained that the law, enacted after September 11 to root out terrorists, has been interpreted broadly to include citizens with no links to terrorism.

U.S. companies, meanwhile, are facing more and more cyber-espionage threats from sophisticated and persistent attacks that make their way into corporations via innocent-looking e-mails that are designed to plant back doors in networks and steal sensitive information. Clarke, whose Good Harbor Consulting firm advises government and corporate clients on such security issues, was named to the board of security provider Bit9 today.

You can read the full CNET interview here.