The White House is cracking down on brokers who sell your data to China and Russia

The White House seeks to cut off foreign adversaries from the flow of Americans’ personal data.

On Wednesday, the Biden administration announced an executive order aimed at protecting Americans from foreign actors exploiting their personal data. The executive order “authorizes the Attorney General to prevent the large-scale transfer of Americans’ personal data to countries of concern.” Countries of concern include China, Russia, North Korea, Iran and Venezuela.

The decree specifically targets data brokerage, a practice which is shockingly unregulated. No federal law oversees the collection and sale of the most intimate details of our lives. And when data is sold to countries of concern, it can become a national security issue.

“The sale of Americans’ data raises significant privacy, counterintelligence, blackmail, and other national security risks, particularly for members of the military or national security community,” he said. the press briefing said, before adding groups such as academics, activists, journalists and political figures. , etc. are potential targets with access to their personal information.

Through the Department of Justice, the executive order will prohibit specific data transactions to countries of concern. It is therefore a question of selling data to data brokers knowing that it will end up in these countries or to companies based in these countries, according to a senior DOJ official. Prohibited data types include genomic, biometric, geolocation, personal health, personal finance, personally identifiable information, and sensitive government data.

The decree will also limit, but not prohibit, data transactions for commercial purposes, including investment, supplier and employment information.

If you think about a certain social media company that was accused of passing its users’ data to China, the executive order may not have as big an impact on TikTok. According to his Privacy Policy, it does not purchase data from third-party brokers. It says it may use data “shared” with the company by advertisers and other partners, although it remains unclear how it is shared. But TikTok has its own ways to collect data about you without any third party.

Although the executive order was announced today, several steps are required before it takes effect. There will be two rounds of gathering feedback from stakeholders, including technology companies and privacy advocates, before the proposed rule is finalized. Now if the White House only addresses data brokers in the United States