Joe Biden Issues Executive Order To Protect US Personal Data Transferred To China And Russia

JAKARTA - President Joe Biden's administration on Wednesday, February 28, revealed an executive order aimed at protecting US personal data by limiting its transfers to China, Russia, and other countries. This was revealed by senior US officials, referring to national security concerns.

The order will limit the mass transfer of information on geolocation, biometrics, health and finance of American citizens by data brokers and other parties to "states of concern," the officials said.

The order will also prohibit the transfer of any volume of data on US government personnel to those countries, which also include Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela.

"China and Russia bought sensitive American personal data from data brokers and used it to engage in various malicious activities including malicious cyber activities, espionage, and extortion," the officials said.

"Buying data through data brokers is currently legal in the United States. It reflects a gap in our national security tools," added those who also said the order this Wednesday was aimed at filling the gap.

The order is Washington's latest attempt to stop the flow of US data into China, which has been involved in years of trade and technology war with the United States.

The US Congress is considering legislation to ban federal agencies from making contracts with BGI Group China and Wuxi APPTEC, as part of efforts to prevent China from accessing American personal genetic data and health information.

In 2018, a US panel reviewing foreign investments for national security threats rejected Ant Financial China's plan to acquire US money transfer company MoneyGram International as the company could not ease concerns over data security that could be used to identify US citizens.

Officials said on Wednesday that transactions with data brokers knew the information would end up in "states of concern" would be banned, as would all genomic data transfers.

Transfers of other data classes - from biometrics to finance - will only be prohibited if they meet certain volume thresholds and are sent to those countries, an official said.

"To overcome concerns that new rules will hinder economic activity unnecessaryly, several types of data including corporate payroll and compliance are excluded," they added.

Certain transactions such as cloud services, work agreements, and investments will also be permitted, with safety conditions such as encryption and anonymity.

The order also directs the Department of Justice to provide industry with sufficient opportunities to comment on proposals before taking effect.

The White House said companies are now collecting more American citizen data than ever before. The data is often sold and traded legally through data brokers who can then transfer it to foreign intelligence services, military, or companies controlled by foreign governments.