Details of The Story
On February 28th, 2024, in an attempt to bolster national security and protect the privacy of individuals of the United States, President Joe Biden signed an executive order that restricts the extensive sale and distribution of private American data to specified “countries of concern,” including but not limited to China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela. This action addresses the growing concern over sensitive personal information being misused by foreign entities to compromise U.S. security and the well-being of its citizens.
Highlighting the critical nature of this issue, Attorney General Merrick B. Garland remarked on the dangers posed by foreign adversaries leveraging Americans’ private data for blackmail, surveillance, and targeting dissidents within the U.S., among other harmful intents. The order authorizes the Justice Department to prevent such threats by prohibiting access to a wide array of sensitive personal data, including but not limited to genomic, biometric, health, and financial records.
Under President Biden’s directive, the Department of Justice is tasked with initiating and managing a security program aimed at curtailing the exploitation of American citizens’ private data by hostile nations. Furthermore, it necessitates the creation of stringent regulations to either limit or outright ban data transactions that pose a substantial risk to national security.
Additionally, the White House issued a fact sheet warning of the grave risks associated with the commercial sale of sensitive data, especially to individuals associated with the national security or military sectors. It pointed out the potential for “countries of concern” to exploit such data for gathering intelligence on U.S. citizens involved in activism, academia, journalism, and political activities, with the aim of intimidating them, stifling free speech, and curtailing other fundamental freedoms.
This executive order follows in the footsteps of previous measures taken by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which earlier banned two data brokers for selling Americans’ precise location data for tracking purposes. These measures were a response to incidents revealing the exposure of sensitive information, including personal visits to places of worship and healthcare facilities.
