Republican lawmakers are seeking to ban U.S. soldiers and their families from using Chinese-owned tutoring companies to prevent information from being “exposed to the Chinese Communist Party.”
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) announced of Law prohibiting Chinese Communist Party access to US military students It specifically targets the Tutor.com service.
The online tutoring company serves students from fourth grade to university and is owned by Primavera Capital Group, one of China’s leading investment firms.
The group also made a notable investment in ByteDance, the Chinese Communist Party-backed company that runs the social media app TikTok.
The Department of Defense (DOD) has a contract with Tutor.com starting in 2022 to make it available to military families. report Just news.
The new law states: “While providing educational services, Tutor.com collects users’ personal data, such as location information, Internet protocol addresses, and content of tutoring sessions.”
“There is no reason for the Department of Defense to pay for a Chinese-funded service to collect data on service members and their families,” Cotton said. “There are many American companies offering tutoring services, but they are not regulated by the Chinese government.”
Representative Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) is introducing companion legislation in the House, according to Cotton’s office.
Stefanik Said In the press release:
I am proud to join Senator Cotton in introducing legislation that would prohibit the Department of Defense from using Tutor.com, a company owned by Communist China, to educate military members and their families. We cannot allow Communist China to collect vast amounts of data on U.S. service members and their families that could be used as a weapon, posing a serious and unnecessary threat to U.S. national security.
This bill was enacted after February 14th letter Mr. Cotton asked Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to end the department’s relationship with Tutor.com.
The company denies allegations of sharing information with the Chinese Communist Party.
“This law incorrectly assumes that the personal information of those who use our tutoring services may be transferred to China,” Tutor.com said in an article. statement On Fox News.
Tutor.com is a US company and US student data remains in the US. Primavera does not have access to, and may not have access to, our IT systems pursuant to the U.S. government’s national security review initiated by both parties and conducted by CFIUS. A private equity firm acquired his Tutor.com.
As required by the U.S. Government, Tutor.com has a designated Data Security Officer who has been vetted and approved by the U.S. Government to continually monitor and ensure compliance with our data protection measures. He also has two independent directors on Tutor.com’s board of directors. It is also mandated, vetted, and approved by the U.S. government. Their primary obligation is to ensure that personal data is adequately protected.
But Cotton remains adamant that the Pentagon’s contract with Tutor.com is “unacceptable.”
It is unacceptable for the Department of Defense to continue to provide Chinese tutoring services to U.S. military personnel and their families.
of @Deptof Defense should terminate the contract with @tutordotcom immediately. https://t.co/3ElI2RqadO
— Tom Cotton (@SenTomCotton) March 21, 2024
