US senators introduce bill to further restrict Chinese acquisitions of American personal data
- Marco Rubio of Florida and Raphael Warnock of Georgia seek to extend federal oversight of foreign deals for US businesses handling personal data
- ‘Adversaries like the People’s Republic of China,’ they say, use acquisitions to stockpile data, ‘creating both privacy and national security risks’
Two US senators introduced bipartisan legislation on Tuesday to further restrict Chinese acquisition of American personal data, citing the threat to national security.
The Protecting Sensitive Personal Data Act of 2021, sponsored by Marco Rubio, Republican of Florida, and Raphael Warnock, Democrat of Georgia, aims to expand the oversight authority by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS), an inter-agency regulator that can compel foreign buyers of US businesses to submit their purchases for review.
The bill, according to the senators, seeks to protect data including genetic test results, health conditions and insurance applications. Other sensitive data would include information about financial hardship, security clearance, geolocation data, private emails, data for generating government identification and credit reports.