Obama Urges Security Breach Crackdown

President Barack Obama called upon Congress Monday (Jan. 12) to enact legislation intended to protect companies and consumers from cybersecurity threats like those that disrupted personal data in the breaches that struck companies like Target, Home Depot and Sony in 2014.

Obama’s push to protect the country’s infrastructure from cyber attacks builds on his plan from 2012 to enhance consumer privacy, and combines the measures through two acts — Personal Data Notification and Protection Act, and the Student Data Privacy Act. In speaking about the federal legislation proposals, the president discussed the need to increase control over data measures from both a company and consumer perspective.

“If we’re going to be connected, then we need to be protected. As Americans, we shouldn’t have to forfeit our basic privacy when we go online to do our business,” Obama said Monday. “Each of us as individuals have a sphere of privacy around us that should not be breached, whether by our government, but also by commercial interests.”

The Personal Data Notification and Protection Act calls for regulation that requires companies to inform customers within a 30-day-period if their data has been hacked. The second act is aimed at prohibiting technology firms from financially benefiting on data collected in schools that are used by educators using tablets, online services and Internet-connected software. Obama also wants to see voluntary agreements from companies to provide easier access to credit scores to create an earlier alert to identity theft.

“In an increasingly interconnected world, American companies are also leaders in protecting privacy, taking unprecedented steps to invest in cybersecurity and provide customers with precise control over the privacy of their online content,” according to a written statement from the White House. “But as cybersecurity threats and identity theft continue to rise, recent polls show that 9 in 10 Americans feel they have in some way lost control of their personal information — and that can lead to less interaction with technology, less innovation, and a less productive economy.”

According to the release, the four main goals of the legislation include: improving consumer confidence by tackling identity theft, safeguarding student data, convening to the public and private sector to tackle emerging privacy issues, and promoting innovation by improving consumers’ confidence online.

According to a New York Times article: “White House officials said they expected bipartisan support for the initiatives and did not anticipate fierce opposition from industry or advocacy organizations.” Obama’s announcements are part of his weeklong focus on privacy and cybersecurity, which could be a talking point at his State of the Union Address on Jan. 20.