- President Biden’s executive order aims to halt the mass-sale of Americans’ personal data to countries of concern like Russia and China.
- The order specifically targets the bulk sale of various types of personal information, including geolocation, genomic, financial, biometric, and health data.
- It prohibits data brokers and other entities from directly or indirectly selling large quantities of Americans’ personal data to specified countries, with potential additional restrictions on data sales through various contracts.
President Joe Biden is set to issue an executive order aimed at curbing the widespread sale of Americans’ personal data to countries such as Russia and China. The order targets the mass trade of various types of personal information, including geolocation, genomic, financial, biometric, and health data.
According to a senior administration official, the sale of such data to these nations raises significant national security concerns. The official highlighted existing gaps in policies and laws that allow for the legal purchase of data through brokers in the United States, emphasizing the need to address these vulnerabilities.
Concerns over the national security implications of the largely unregulated data broker industry have been voiced by researchers and privacy advocates for some time. Last year, researchers from Duke University demonstrated how easy it was to acquire personal and health data of US military personnel by posing as foreign agents.
Biden’s executive order aims to prevent such scenarios by prohibiting data brokers and other entities from selling large quantities of Americans’ personal data to countries like Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela, either directly or indirectly. Additional restrictions may be imposed on the sale of data through cloud service contracts, investment agreements, and employment contracts.
While the White House heralds the executive order as a significant step to safeguard Americans’ data security, the specifics of enforcement within the Justice Department remain unclear. However, it is expected that data brokers will be required to conduct due diligence to verify the identity of their clients, similar to the standards for complying with US sanctions.
Notably, the executive order does not address the broader issue of data sales to countries or companies not deemed as security risks. The White House emphasizes the need for comprehensive bipartisan privacy legislation, urging Congress to take action, particularly to protect children’s safety.
