The US President has signed an executive order banning the bulk sale of Americans’ geolocation, genomic, financial, and medical data to «countries of concern» — including russia and China.
«Our current policies and laws leave open access to vast amounts of sensitive personal data of Americans», a senior Biden administration official said during the briefing. «Data brokering is currently legal in the United States — and it is a gap in our national security toolkit».
As noted by Engadget, researchers and privacy advocates have long warned of the national security risks posed by the largely unregulated, multibillion-dollar data brokerage industry. Last fall, researchers at Duke University reported that they had managed to easily acquire a lot of personal and health data of US military personnel by posing as foreign agents.
Biden’s executive order should address similar concerns — it prohibits data brokers and other companies from directly or indirectly selling large amounts of Americans’ personal information to countries or organizations in Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela. Additional restrictions are likely to be imposed on companies’ ability to sell data under cloud service contracts, investment agreements, and employment contracts.
At the same time, the White House notes that the order will not slow down the massive sale of American data to other countries or companies that are not considered a threat to national security.
«President Biden urges Congress to pass comprehensive, bipartisan privacy legislation that is especially important to protect the safety of our children», — the White House said in a statement.