President Biden Issues Executive Order to Protect Americans’ Sensitive Personal Data

A new Biden Executive Order will protect Americans’ sensitive personal data from exploitation by countries of concern. The Executive Order, which marks the most significant executive action any President has ever taken to protect Americans’ data security, authorizes the Attorney General to prevent the large-scale transfer of Americans’ personal data to countries of concern and provides safeguards around other activities that can give those countries access to Americans’ sensitive data. The President’s Executive Order focuses on Americans’ most personal and sensitive information, including genomic data, biometric data, personal health data, geolocation data, financial data, and certain kinds of personally identifiable information. To protect Americans’ sensitive personal data, President Biden is directing:

• The Department of Justice to issue regulations that establish clear protections for Americans’ sensitive personal data from access and exploitation by countries of concern. 
• The Department of Justice to issue regulations that establish greater protection of sensitive government-related data, including geolocation information on sensitive government sites and information about military members.
• The Departments of Justice and Homeland Security to work together to set high security standards to prevent access by countries of concern to Americans’ data through other commercial means
• The Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, and Veterans Affairs to help ensure that Federal grants, contracts, and awards are not used to facilitate access to Americans’ sensitive health data by countries of concern, including via companies located in the United States.
• The Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector (often called “Team Telecom”) to consider the threats to Americans’ sensitive personal data in its reviews of submarine cable licenses.
• That these activities do not stop the flow of information necessary for financial services activities or impose measures aimed at a broader decoupling of the substantial consumer, economic, scientific, and trade relationships that the United States has with other countries.