Don't take an absolutist view on privacy, says Obama

Austin, Texas

US PRESIDENT Barack Obama made a pilgrimage on Friday to SXSW - the tech world's Davos and Woodstock rolled into one - making a government recruitment pitch even as he fanned a row over encryption.

Mr Obama travelled to Austin, Texas, ostensibly to open a "pipeline" of programmers, developers and other tech whiz kids to enter government service.