Joe Biden Issues Executive Order To Prevent Sales Of Americans’ Personal Data (Image: X/@POTUS)Joe Biden-led United States administration has released an executive order seeking to restrict the sale of sensitive American data. The US stated that they made this crucial move to protect Americans’ sensitive personal data from exploitation by countries of concern. The US administration has identified six countries of concern, which include China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela.
The US Department of Justice said that the executive order addresses the “extraordinary and unusual national security threat” posed by the continued effort of certain countries of concern to access Americans’ bulk sensitive personal data and certain US government-related data. The personal data includes personal health data, biometric data, genomic data, geolocation data, financial data, and certain kinds of personally identifiable information. The US says that countries of concern are buying the sensitive data and are also accessing it through vendor, employment, investment, and other commercial relationships of companies subject to their jurisdiction.
The White House mentioned in its statement that bad actors can track Americans, including military service members, using the data and pass this data on to other data brokers and foreign intelligence services. The White House also noted that such data can enable scams, blackmail, intrusive surveillance, and other violations of privacy.
The United States administration pointed out that firms are gathering more of Americans’ data than ever before, and it is often legally sold and resold with the help of data brokers. The US says that the sale of sensitive data raises security risks, especially for those in the military or national security community.
As part of the executive order, the US Department of Justice and Homeland Security will work together to set security standards to restrict access by countries of concern to Americans’ data. “Hostile foreign powers are weaponizing bulk data and the power of artificial intelligence to target Americans,” said Matthew G. Olsen, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.