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 “it’s hard” balancing the government responsibility to protect privacy rights with the work of defending national security.

Aiming to maintain that equilibrium, Obama’s 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 Obama’s proposed legislation to encourage data-sharing between the government and companies. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., on Wednesday introduced a legislative version of Obama’s 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.”

Top executives from other powerful Silicon Valley companies, like Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Yahoo's Marissa Mayer and Google's Larry Page did not attend the summit amid the ongoing concerns about government surveillance, opting to send other officials from their companies instead.

Apple and Google announced last year they would encrypt their smartphones so they could not be compelled by law enforcement to unlock information stored on the devices, aiming to protect user privacy and regain customer trust damaged by the National Security Agency’s spying on Internet data.

Finance and energy companies – like Bank of America Corp. and Pacific Gas & Electric Co. – were also represented at the summit, touting their cybersecurity efforts and supporting the White House cybersecurity framework of best practices and popular standards to advise companies on how to protect their networks.

Cook said 2,000 banks have signed on to Apple Pay, adding that in September the digital payment system will be available for financial transactions with the federal government, like paying admission fees to national parks.

“We can imagine a day in the not-too distant future that your wallet becomes a remnant of the past,” Cook said, while noting the risks of such online services. “We shouldn’t have to trade our security for having all of this information at our fingertips.”

Data breaches last year compromised the personal data of customers of businesses like JPMorgan Chase & Co., Target Corp., Sony Pictures Entertainment, and most recently health insurer Anthem. While noting these threats, Obama praised Silicon Valley companies for their innovations, which have helped build the U.S. economy to help make 2014 the best year for job growth since the 1990s. He called for more government spending on “research in science and technology.”

The tech industry added 129,600 jobs from 2013 to 2014, for a total of nearly 6.5 million jobs in the U.S., according to a recent report by Tech America trade association.

That also makes U.S. companies an appealing target for industrial espionage by hackers supported by Russia and China. Critical infrastructure, like power grids, is also vulnerable to online sabotage, Obama said. The only way to tackle those threats is for the public and private sectors to work together, he added.