Obama aims to protect privacy

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Monday proposed strengthening laws against identity theft by requiring notification when consumer information is hacked and protecting students’ private data.

Obama also called for more free access to all consumer credit rating services. While customers can get annual credit reports free once a year, FICO credit scores typically cost money to obtain, although some banks have been offering them free to customers.

Obama applauded those companies for offering the service and called on more to do so. He said a credit score “is like an early warning system telling you that you’ve been hit by fraud so you can deal with it fast.”

Obama said identity theft is a growing problem that costs billions of dollars and can “turn your life upside down.” He said the age of technology and digital innovation has created enormous vulnerabilities for the U.S. and cited the recent hack on Sony Pictures Entertainment as an example.

“This is a direct threat to the economic security of American families and we’ve got to stop it,” Obama said in a speech at the Federal Trade Commission. “If we’re going to be connected, we need to be protected.”

Just as Obama finished speaking, 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, previewing a push he plans to make in the State of the Union address next week, 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.

Recent hackings at retailers including Target, Home Depot and Neiman Marcus have exposed the lack of uniform practices for alerting customers in the event of a breach. The White House has blamed last month’s hacking at Sony Pictures Entertainment on North Korea and responded with new sanctions against the isolated nation.

Obama said every state 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. The legislation would also make it a crime to sell customers’ identities overseas.

He also wants to prevent companies from selling student data to third parties and from using information collected in school to engage in targeted advertising. The Student Digital Privacy Act would prohibit companies from selling student data to third parties, a move spurred by the increased use of technology in schools that can scoop up personal information.

“Data collected on students in the classroom should only be used for educational purposes – to teach our children, not to market to our children,” Obama said.

It’s unclear whether the new Republican-led Congress will take up Obama’s legislative proposals.