Executive Order Designed to Stop Countries from Accessing Americans’ Data
President Biden issued an executive order designed to protect Americans’ personal data from being exploited by “countries of concern” including China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela.
The White House calls it the “the most significant executive action any President has ever taken to protect Americans’ data security.”
The order aims to prevent sensitive personal data collected by companies, including healthcare data, financial data, geolocation data, and biometric data, from being scooped up in large batches by countries of concern.
“The sale of Americans’ data raises significant privacy, counterintelligence, blackmail risks and other national security risks—especially for those in the military or national security community,” said the White House in a fact sheet.
The regulations will set new rules for data brokers, companies which legally sell data information, particularly for when these companies sell information to foreign nations.
Justice Department to Play Leading Role
The order calls for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to issue regulations that establish clear protections for Americans’ sensitive personal data from access by countries of concern and to establish regulations that protect data about members of the U.S. military from being accessed by countries of concern.
In addition, DOJ and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are to work together to prevent access by countries of concern to Americans’ data through commercial means such as vendor, employment, and investment relationships.
Other agencies, such as the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Defense (DOD), and Veterans Affairs (VA) are urged to ensure that grants, contracts, and awards are not used to facilitate access to Americans’ sensitive data.
“The Justice Department has long focused on preventing threat actors from stealing data through the proverbial back door. This executive order shuts the front door by denying countries of concern access to Americans’ most sensitive personal data,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
Not a Magic Fix
Critics say the executive order does not go far enough, particularly when it comes to protecting access to Americans’ data inside the United States.
Albert Fox Cahn, a Harvard Fellow and Head of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, told the Associated Press that the order falls short.
“Only in Washington, does privacy once again get misunderstood as a foreign threat, rather than a domestic industry,” said Cahn. “None of this is a substitute for the civil rights and privacy protections the public so desperately needs.”
Still, the White House is urging Congress to take up the issue once again, noting that the Executive Order is not a substitute for legislation to enshrine privacy protections into law.
Before the Executive Order goes final, stakeholders will have several chances to give their feedback.