Biden to issue executive order aimed at protecting Americans’ sensitive data from China, other 'hostile countries'

U.S. President Joe Biden will issue an executive order Wednesday intended to safeguard the personal data of American citizens from countries deemed hostile.

The executive order centers on the business of selling people's personal information, in which companies and so-called data brokers collect and trade data. The Biden Administration is worried that data brokers and other commercial entities will sell this information to "countries of concern-which have a track record of collecting and misusing data on Americans."

Lawmakers and intelligence agencies have previously expressed concerns that the Chinese Communist Party is amassing a wealth of U.S. data, posing national security concerns.

The order focusses on specific, sensitive information like genomic data, biometric data, personal health data, geolocation data, financial data and other kinds of personally identifiable information.

Hostile countries can use this data "to track Americans (including military service members), pry into their personal lives, and pass that data on to other data brokers and foreign intelligence services," according to a White House fact sheet.

"The sale of Americans' data raises significant privacy, counterintelligence, blackmail risks and other national security risks-especially for those in the military or national security community," the White House said in a release on the new E.O.

"Countries of concern can also access Americans' sensitive personal data to collect information on activists, academics, journalists, dissidents, political figures, and members of non-governmental organizations and marginalized communities to intimidate opponents of countries of concern, curb dissent, and limit Americans' freedom of expression and other civil