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President Barack Obama tried to further government cybersecurity partnerships with business luminaries on Friday by announcing an executive order to promote data sharing about digital threats but he still faced challenges from tech firms on digital privacy.

Obama signed the new order onstage during his White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection at Stanford University, adding that its hard balancing the government responsibility to protect privacy rights with the work of defending national security.

Aiming to maintain that equilibrium, Obamas executive order encourages the development of information sharing and analysis organizations, providing legal-liability protection to make it easier for businesses and government to share online threat data specific to their industry or geographic region. It also increases the role of the Department of Homeland Security in the data-sharing process, including by directing the agency to fund the creation of a nonprofit to set voluntary standards for these data clearinghouses that would observe privacy rights of users.

It can help make it easier for companies to get the classified cybersecurity threat information they need, Obama said, explaining the order. Everybody is online, and everybody is vulnerable.

The order also complements Obamas proposed legislation to encourage data-sharing between the government and companies. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., on Wednesday introduced a legislative version of Obamas data-sharing proposal, titled the Cyber Threat Sharing Act of 2015.

Bills on the topic in recent years have failed in part due to concerns that company data could wind up in the hands of government intelligence agencies. Obama called for bipartisanship on cybersecurity, while in the same speech touting his support for net neutrality, which has bitterly divided Democrats and Republicans in recent years.

Proposed net neutrality rules that aim to protect Internet competition and access rights by treating all online traffic equally are scheduled for a vote on Feb. 26 at the Federal Communications Commission.

"The very technologies that empower us to do great good can also be used to undermine us and inflict great harm," Obama said. In all our work, we have to make sure we are protecting the privacy and civil liberties of the American people.

Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook addressed industry concerns about privacy rights at the summit, explaining that his company is committed to its business model of selling luxury technology products, not selling your personal data a line that drew applause from the crowd. Cook, who is openly gay, alluded to the LGBT community when he said digital privacy can mean the difference between life and death, as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people sometimes feel the need to keep details of their personal lives private.

History has shown us that sacrificing our right to privacy can have dire consequences, he said. We still live in a world where all people are not treated equally.

Originally posted here:
Obama, Apple rally business with cybersecurity order