US President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on Wednesday aimed at preventing some countries, including China, North Korea and Russia, from purchasing sensitive information about Americans through US commercial data brokers.
Administration officials said sensitive data such as personal identification information, precise location information, and biometrics, which are important tools for conducting cyberattacks, espionage, and blackmail operations against the United States, are being collected from countries the White House has identified as “countries of concern.” It states that they are being collected in the countries that call them.
Biden administration officials revealed the order in advance to reporters on a Zoom call Tuesday, taking brief questions on the condition that they not be referred to by name or title.
The order has little immediate impact, they said. Instead, the U.S. Department of Justice will begin a rulemaking process aimed at creating a “data security program” envisioned by the White House. This process gives the government an opportunity to consult experts, industry stakeholders, and the public before adopting the proposal.
White House officials said the U.S. attorney general will consult with the heads of the State and Commerce departments to finalize the list of countries eligible for the program. But a preliminary list given to reporters during a conference call Tuesday included China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela.
Officials said the categories of information covered by the program include health and financial data, precise geolocation information and “certain sensitive government-related data.” The order will include several carve-outs for certain financial transactions and activities that are “incidental” to normal business operations.
It's unclear how effective such programs are. Notably, it does not apply to the majority of countries where trafficking in Americans' personal data remains ostensibly legal. Additionally, whether the government has the authority or means (other than an act of Congress) to restrict countries that are diplomatically or militarily allied with the United States but are known to conduct espionage against the United States. is also unknown. For example, in 2019, the United States installed a cell phone spying device near the White House, accusing it of acting as an international marketplace for illegal spyware. Or Saudi Arabia used that market to conduct covert surveillance in 2018. washington post The poster was later abducted and killed by a Saudi raiding party.
There may be little to prevent China, Russia, or North Korea from trying to obtain U.S. data from third parties in the more than 170 countries not on the U.S. government's list. U.S. data brokers only need to take steps to ensure that their overseas customers comply with “certain security requirements” during transfer, many of which are already required by law.
A White House official said the restrictions imposed by the executive order are aimed at preventing “indirect transfers of data.” But in practice, this means that data brokers only need to obtain “some kind of commitment” or “understanding” from their overseas customers that their data may be sold or transferred. Masu.