Obama: With tech advances come privacy risks for U.S.

Washington, D.C. -- President Barack Obama on Monday proposed strengthening laws against identity theft, described as a growing problem that costs billions of dollars. Part of Obama’s proffered solution is requiring notification when consumer information is hacked.



Obama cited the recent hack on Sony Pictures Entertainment as an example and, as he completed his speech to the Federal Trade Commission, the Twitter and YouTube accounts for U.S. Central Command were taken over by hackers who claimed to be working on behalf of Islamic State militants.



Obama wants Congress to pass legislation called the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act, which would require companies to inform customers within 30 days if their data has been hacked. The move comes on the heels of a rash of retail hackings, including Target, Home Depot and Neiman Marcus, which have exposed the lack of uniform practices for alerting customers in the event of a breach.



Obama said every state currently has its own policy on when companies must notify consumers of a breach and that there should be a single standard across the country and baseline protections across industries.