- US President Joe Biden will issue a new executive order aimed at protecting Americans' personal data from countries deemed hostile.
- The executive order focuses on the business of selling people's personal information, where companies and so-called data brokers collect and trade data.
- Lawmakers and intelligence agencies have previously expressed concern that the Chinese Communist Party has amassed a wealth of U.S. data, raising national security concerns.
US President Joe Biden will issue an executive order on Wednesday aimed at protecting Americans' personal data from countries deemed hostile.
The executive order focuses on the business of selling people's personal information, where companies and so-called data brokers collect and trade data. The Biden administration is concerned that data brokers and other commercial entities will sell this information to “countries of concern with a track record of collecting and misusing data about Americans.”
Lawmakers and intelligence agencies have previously expressed concern that the Chinese Communist Party has amassed a wealth of U.S. data, raising national security concerns.
The order focuses on certain sensitive information, including genomic data, biometric data, personal health data, geolocation data, financial data, and other types of personally identifiable information.
According to a White House fact sheet, adversaries can use this data to “track Americans, including military personnel, peer into their private lives, and pass that data on to other data brokers and foreign intelligence agencies.” That's what it means.
“The sale of American citizens' data poses significant privacy, counterintelligence, extortion risks, and other national security risks, especially for military and national security personnel,” the White House said in a release about the new president. said.
“Countries of Concern may seek to intimidate opponents of Concerned Countries, suppress dissent, and restrict movement by activists, academics, journalists, dissidents, politicians, non-governmental organizations and members of marginalized communities. “We also have access to sensitive personal data of Americans to collect information about Americans' freedom of expression and other civil liberties,” the White House said.
The executive order directs the Department of Justice to issue several regulations aimed at protecting sensitive data. It also requires the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice to “enforce high security standards to prevent countries of concern from accessing Americans' data through other commercial means, including data available through investments, vendors, and employment relationships.” We plan to instruct you to configure the settings.
Additionally, the order directs the Foreign Participation Assessment Agency in the U.S. Telecommunications Services sector to “consider threats to sensitive personal data of U.S. persons” when reviewing submarine cable licenses.
“These measures are not only consistent with the United States' long-standing support for the free flow of trusted data, but are also consistent with the United States' longstanding support for the free flow of trusted data, as well as an open system with measures to strongly and effectively protect individual privacy and maintain government enforcement. “advancing laws and policies that are in the public interest, consistent with America's commitment to a safe internet,'' a White House spokesperson said.
The Biden administration last week announced an executive order aimed at improving cybersecurity at U.S. ports. For example, government officials said 80 percent of the port's equipment, known as the berthed crane port, is made in China, and they were concerned that the equipment could be compromised and used for surveillance.
Congress is also focusing on the potential privacy risks posed by the data broker industry. Last May, a bipartisan group of lawmakers sent letters to more than 20 companies, including Equifax and Oracle, asking for information on how they collect and distribute data.
“U.S. privacy concerns in the data broker industry are not new, and existing laws do not adequately protect Americans from the misuse of their data,” the letter said.
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