Justice Department bans transfer of American data to ‘countries of concern’

The US government has put the final touches to a sweeping rule that would ban foreign access to bulk sensitive data of Americans, bringing a February 2024 Executive Order by President Joe Biden.

The order creates a new national security regulatory program, overseen by the US Department of Justice, designed to prevent the transfer and exploitation of bulk personal data and certain US government data abroad. Is it targets known “countries of concern”, including China (Hong Kong and Macau), Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela, and aims to limit their ability to use bulk data for cyber espionage and influence – or to build an American citizen. profiles used for social engineering and identity theft.

Certain types of data are expressly prohibited from being transferred under the new regulation, such as personal identifiers, biometric data such as facial scans and voice prints, and precise geolocation data. The rules also designate the classes of prohibited, restricted, and exempt data transactions, whether by direct purchase or other commercial means.

“Countries of concern and covered persons may also exploit this data to collect information on activists, academics, journalists, dissidents, political opponents, or members of non-governmental organizations or marginalized communities in order to intimidate them; curb political opposition; limit freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, or association or other forms of suppression of civil liberties,” writes the Department of Justice, also warning of the use of sensitive data in bulk; Develop artificial intelligence and more sophisticated algorithms at greater risk to national security.

The US government has invested more regulatory strength in data privacy, with the goal of more intensively monitoring and limiting the passage of sensitive personal data of Americans abroad. The Biden administration’s ban on TikTok, which forces the popular social networking platform to divest from its China parent company for national security reasons, is currently underway. considered by the Supreme Court, which will hear oral arguments on January 10. President-elect Donald Trump has recently he reversed his position on platform ban.

In December, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced a new set of proposed rules which would limit the ability of data brokers to sell individuals’ personal and financial data, recategorizing data brokering under the same oversight as credit bureaus and background check companies background

The Justice Department’s new limits come amid several high-profile spying attempts by foreign nations and actors, including a recent The violation of the United States Treasury by hackers who have claimed from China that they have bypassed internal security systems and accessed unclassified documents. The breach was announced on the heels of a a series of cyber attacks infiltration of personal user data stored by major telecommunications companies – another hacking network linked to China known as Salt typhoon.