Engadget RSS Feed-Biden signs executive order to stop Russia and China from buying Americans personal data
February 28, 2024 2 min 378 words
拜登总统签署行政命令，旨在限制向“关切国家”（包括俄罗斯和中国）大规模出售美国个人数据。此举主要针对地理位置、基因组、财务、生物识别、健康等个人身份信息的批量销售。一位高级行政官员在新闻简报中表示，将这些数据出售给这些国家存在国家安全风险。“我们目前的政策和法律为大量美国敏感个人数据提供了开放访问，通过数据经纪人购买数据在美国目前是合法的，这反映了我们国家安全工具包中的一个漏洞，我们正在通过这个计划来填补这个漏洞。” 长期以来，研究人员和隐私倡导者一直警告对多达数十亿美元的数据经纪人行业缺乏监管，存在国家安全风险。拜登的行政命令试图解决这种情况，禁止数据经纪人和其他公司将大量美国个人信息出售给俄罗斯、中国、伊朗、朝鲜、古巴和委内瑞拉等国家或实体，无论是直接还是间接。对于公司在云服务合同、投资协议和雇佣协议中出售数据的能力，可能会有额外的限制。 尽管白宫将此举描述为“任何总统为保护美国数据安全所采取的最重要的行政行动”，但目前尚不清楚新政策在司法部内将如何执行。司法部官员表示，这一行政命令将要求数据经纪人进行尽职调查，类似于公司被要求遵守美国制裁的方式。正如白宫指出的，目前对于这个数十亿美元的数据经纪人行业几乎没有规定。该命令对于将数据大规模出售给未被视为安全风险的国家或公司的情况并不会产生减缓作用。白宫声明表示，“拜登总统继续敦促国会尽其所能通过全面的跨党派隐私立法，特别是为了保护我们儿童的安全。”
President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that aims to limit the mass-sale of Americans’ personal data to “countries of concern,” including Russia and China. The order specifically targets the bulk sale of geolocation, genomic, financial, biometric, health and other personally identifying information.
During a briefing with reporters, a senior administration official said that the sale of such data to these countries poses a national security risk. “Our current policies and laws leave open access to vast amounts of American sensitive personal data,” the official said. “Buying data through data brokers is currently legal in the United States, and that reflects a gap in our national security toolkit that we are working to fill with this program.”
Researchers and privacy advocates have long warned about the national security risks posed by the largely unregulated multibillion-dollar data broker industry. Last fall, researchers at Duke University reported that they were able to easily buy troves of personal and health data about US military personnel while posing as foreign agents.
Biden’s executive order attempts to address such scenarios. It bars data brokers and other companies from selling large troves of Americans’ personal information to countries or entities in Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela either directly or indirectly. There are likely to be additional restrictions on companies’ ability to sell data as part of cloud service contracts, investment agreements and employment agreements.
Though the White House described the step as “the most significant executive action any President has ever taken to protect Americans’ data security,” it’s unclear how exactly enforcement of the new policies will be handled within the Justice Department. A DoJ official said the executive order would require due diligence from data brokers to vet who they are dealing with, similar to the way companies are expected to adhere to US sanctions.
As the White House points out, there are currently few regulations for the multibillion-dollar data broker industry. The order will do nothing to slow the bulk sale of Americans’ data to countries or companies not deemed to be a security risk. “President Biden continues to urge Congress to do its part and pass comprehensive bipartisan privacy legislation, especially to protect the safety of our children,” a White House statement says.