WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US President Barack Obama supports the cybersecurity legislation expected to be voted on in the US House of Representatives this week, but expressed some reservations over granting companies liability, the White House said in a statement.
“While the bill has improved significantly, the Administration still has concerns with H.R. 1560's sweeping liability protections,” the White House said on Tuesday.
“Appropriate liability protections should incentivize good cybersecurity practices and should not grant immunity to a private company for failing to act on information it receives about the security of its networks,” the White House added.
The National Cybersecurity Protection Act would increase information sharing between the private sector and the US government to combat cyber threats.
The Obama administration also said it remains concerned about privacy issues and civil liberties in the existing bill.
“Several improvements to the bill are needed to ensure that it appropriately encourages and facilitates information sharing while safeguarding individuals' privacy interests and civil liberties,” the White House said in the statement.
The White House also said the Obama administration hopes “improvements can be made as the legislative process continues” as the bill advances to the US Senate.
In January 2015, the Obama administration put forward its own plan to enhance private sector-government information sharing while protecting privacy and civil liberties.
