WASHINGTON, June 23 (Reuters) – A bipartisan group of U.S. senators launched laws on Thursday that will give the Biden administration the facility to dam exports of U.S. private knowledge to international locations like China that they are saying pose nationwide safety dangers.
The invoice, co-sponsored by Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, the highest Republican on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee, goals to guard People’ delicate private data from being bought or transferred to high-risk overseas international locations.
“Proper now it’s completely authorized for an organization in China to purchase enormous databases of delicate data from knowledge brokers concerning the actions or well being information of tens of millions of People, after which share that data with the Chinese language authorities,” Wyden mentioned.
The invoice, which is modeled on a dialogue draft launched by Wyden final yr, would direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish classes of private knowledge that, if exported, may hurt U.S. nationwide safety.
Rubio mentioned “we can not belief personal corporations to guard People’ personal knowledge, particularly given what number of of them do enterprise in China.”
If authorised, the invoice would additionally direct the Commerce Division to require licenses for bulk exports of the recognized classes of private knowledge to different international locations, and deny exports to high-risk international locations. Information exports to low-risk international locations can be unrestricted, in response to a abstract of the invoice.
Whereas the invoice doesn’t particularly listing China as a high- threat nation, it’s an supposed goal in response to a Wyden aide.
The Chinese language Embassy in Washington mentioned “on the problem of knowledge safety, China has been aboveboard, open and cooperative … The Chinese language authorities strictly abides by the rules of the safety of knowledge safety, and prohibits and cracks down on unlawful actions in accordance with legislation.
Different cosponsors embody senators Cynthia Lummis, Sheldon Whitehouse and Invoice Hagerty.
The transfer comes amid heightened scrutiny of U.S. knowledge flows to China. Final month, Reuters reported that the Biden administration had drafted an govt order that will give the Justice Division huge powers to cease overseas adversaries like China from accessing People’ private knowledge.
Reporting by Alexandra Alper and David Shepardson in Washington
Modifying by Matthew Lewis
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