US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Wednesday aimed at
“protecting Americans’ sensitive personal data”
from use by countries considered
“sensitive”
, a designation which primarily targets China.
This decree, which comes in addition to a series of measures aimed at restricting China's access to American data and technologies, aims to
"prevent the large-scale transfer of Americans' personal data to sensitive countries and provide custody “necessary”
in this matter, according to a press release published early in the morning by the White House.
The data concerned relates to the genome, biometrics, health or financial data, as well as geolocation.
“Bad actors can use this data to track Americans, interfere in their personal lives and transmit (them) to specialized brokers or foreign intelligence services
,” it is emphasized in the press release, to justify this decision.
This decision comes at a time when the collection and especially the use of data are gaining importance with the development of artificial intelligence (AI), as well as electric and intelligent vehicles, which are often loaded with sensors, allowing trace tracking. , and whose main actors today are Chinese.
Precise European rules
“The sale of Americans' personal data represents a significant risk in terms of privacy, counterintelligence, blackmail and other national security risks
,” the White House also estimated.
The issue of data management and its transfer abroad has become an essential subject for all governments around the world.
The European Union (EU) has long sought to protect the personal data of Europeans collected by American companies and to ensure the conditions for their transfer to the United States or their storage in Europe, as well as their access by external entities.
The EU has notably implemented its European regulation on digital markets (DMA) as well as that on personal data (GDPR) which set very precise rules for all companies, particularly American ones, on the management of the personal data of Europeans. as well as their transfer.
Beijing, for its part, on Monday called on national companies and local governments to better protect their data, particularly against cyberattacks.
A Chinese company, I-Soon, an IT service provider, was accused on February 21 of having infiltrated the systems of a dozen governments, pro-democracy organizations in Hong Kong as well as NATO.