The House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill that would block the sale of sensitive data of U.S. users to hostile foreign countries.
The Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Enemies Act was signed by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) and Representative Frank Pallone (D.N.J.) this Congress. Submitted to. It passed the Rogers Commission with a bipartisan unanimous vote of 50-0 earlier this month.
The bill passed the House on a 414-0 vote Wednesday afternoon.
According to the text of the bill, its purpose is to “prohibit data brokers from transferring sensitive data of U.S. individuals to foreign adversaries or other purposes.”
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Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is introducing a bill to the floor that would protect Americans’ sensitive data from falling into the hands of foreign adversaries. (Eric Kane/USA Today Network)
The definition of “sensitive data” includes biometric data, private personal communications, login credentials, social security numbers, geolocation data, and the individual’s status within the military (if applicable). and so on.
This restriction also applies to foreign governments such as Russia, Iran, and China, and to individuals and entities over which those governments have influence.
This is part of a recent bipartisan push by Congress to protect US user data from foreign threats.
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It passed House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers on a 50-0 vote. (Valerie Plesch/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Last week, the house passed the bill The aim is to force Beijing-backed tech company ByteDance to exit TikTok within 165 days or risk the social media platform being banned from U.S. app stores. The bill passed by an overwhelming vote of 352-65, with one member voting “present.”
The bill’s authors said it would also apply to other apps owned by hostile foreign companies.
TikTok’s critics have long called it a national security threat. They cite concerns about the ability of the Chinese government to use its power over ByteDance to access sensitive user data, even within the United States, which the company denies.
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Congress recently moved to clamp down on China’s access to U.S. data
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China hawks also warn that the app is gaining popularity among young Americans and is giving the ruling Chinese Communist Party a platform for a massive influence campaign.
At the same time, lawmakers Be wary of pushing In its bid to rein in TikTok, it cites First Amendment concerns and potential harm to small businesses that rely on it.
