On Friday, President Obama repeated the need to bring high-tech leaders together with law enforcement and intelligence officials to better spot terrorist threats on the Internet.

But he also discussed the obstacles in doing so, in an era of encrypted smartphone apps and private social networking chats.

Some intelligence officials are worried that terrorists are relying on encryption to hide their schemes. At the same time, many high-tech leaders worry that breaking encryption will erode personal privacy.

“We have to review what we can do both technically, as well as consistent with our laws and values to try to discern more rapidly some of the potential threats that may be out there,” Obama said in his final news conference of the year.

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