President Obama on Monday will propose a pair of bills aimed at bolstering cybersecurity in the wake of the hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment.
The first bill Obama will outline during a visit to Federal Trade Commission offices would require companies to notify customers within 30 days if their personal information had been exposed during a data breach. The president will also call for additional privacy in the classrooms, proposing legislation that would prohibit the selling of student data to third parties for non-education purposes.
Obama will also announce that JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and other financial firms are making free credit scores available to their customers.
“As cybersecurity threats and identity theft continue to rise, recent polls show that nine 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,” the White House said.
“Today, President Obama will build on the steps he has taken to protect American companies, consumers, and infrastructure from cyber threats, while safeguarding privacy and civil liberties,” the White House added.
Following the Sony hack and data breaches at Home Depot and Target, among other major companies, Obama has been under growing pressure to address cybersecurity more forcefully.
Obama will discuss his proposals with congressional leaders during a meeting at the White House Tuesday. He’ll then head to the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, where he will outline how private companies can better share information about cyber theft.
The president on Wednesday is expected to promote a high-speed Internet proposal in Iowa.
Obama is conducting the cyber blitz in advance of his efforts to highlight the proposals to a prime-time audience during his State of the Union address on Jan. 20.
