Special attention is paid to information related to the national security of citizens.
US President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that aims to ban the mass sale and transfer of Americans ' personal data to "countries of concern" in the United States. These countries included China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stressed that U.S. adversaries use sensitive personal data of Americans for threats to national security, including blackmail, surveillance and attacks on dissidents inside the country.
The executive order gives the U.S. Department of Justice the authority to block access by the above-mentioned countries to the most sensitive personal data of Americans, including genomic data, biometric and personal identifiers, as well as medical and financial data.
All this information can be used for intrusive surveillance, fraud, blackmail, and other privacy violations. Commercial data brokers that collect this information were previously able to freely sell it to any interested parties, including "countries of concern", their foreign intelligence services and military structures. Now the sale of such data will become illegal.
Previously, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has already banned two data brokers (Outlogic and InMarket Media) from selling accurate geolocation data of Americans that can be used for surveillance.
These measures were taken in response to brokers 'regular disclosure of individuals' location data, which can reveal sensitive information such as religious affiliation and health care visits.
The FTC's action follows Biden's August 2022 executive order aimed at protecting access to reproductive health services and protecting patient privacy after an anti-abortion group improperly used mobile device location data to target ads to visitors to some planned parenthood clinics.
US President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that aims to ban the mass sale and transfer of Americans ' personal data to "countries of concern" in the United States. These countries included China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela.
Attorney General Merrick B. Garland stressed that U.S. adversaries use sensitive personal data of Americans for threats to national security, including blackmail, surveillance and attacks on dissidents inside the country.
The executive order gives the U.S. Department of Justice the authority to block access by the above-mentioned countries to the most sensitive personal data of Americans, including genomic data, biometric and personal identifiers, as well as medical and financial data.
All this information can be used for intrusive surveillance, fraud, blackmail, and other privacy violations. Commercial data brokers that collect this information were previously able to freely sell it to any interested parties, including "countries of concern", their foreign intelligence services and military structures. Now the sale of such data will become illegal.
Previously, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has already banned two data brokers (Outlogic and InMarket Media) from selling accurate geolocation data of Americans that can be used for surveillance.
These measures were taken in response to brokers 'regular disclosure of individuals' location data, which can reveal sensitive information such as religious affiliation and health care visits.
The FTC's action follows Biden's August 2022 executive order aimed at protecting access to reproductive health services and protecting patient privacy after an anti-abortion group improperly used mobile device location data to target ads to visitors to some planned parenthood clinics.
