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June 15 (UPI) -- A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators and House members has introduced a new bill to stop employees of foreign corporations like TikTok from accessing U.S. data from abroad. The Protecting Americans' Data From Foreign Surveillance Act of 2023 updates the previously introduced version of the bill.
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"Massive pools of Americans' sensitive information -- everything from where we go, to what we buy and what kind of health care services we receive -- are for sale to buyers in China, Russia and nearly anyone with a credit card," Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said in a statement. "Our bipartisan bill would turn off the tap of data to unfriendly nations, stop TikTok from sending Americans' personal information to China, and allow nations with strong privacy protections to strengthen their relationships."
Joining Wyden to introduce the bill were senators Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., Marco Rubio, R-Fla., Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., and Martin Heinrich, D-N.M.
House sponsors are Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, and Anna Eshoo, D-Calif.
"The privacy and security of our data is essential to the freedoms we hold dear. If foreign adversaries can access our data, they can control it. We need to ensure the data that people in Wyoming put online is not available to nations that threaten our safety and security. With this bipartisan legislation, we will ensure that companies like TikTok are not funneling your personal data to those adversaries," said Senator Lummis in a statement.
The bill would regulate all exports of personal data by data brokers and companies like TikTok that go directly to restricted foreign countries.
The bill states, "Accelerating technological trends have made sensitive personal data an especially valuable input to activities that foreign adversaries of the United States undertake to threaten both the national security of the United States and the privacy that the people of the United States cherish."
The legislation directs the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with other agencies, to identify personal data categories that, if exported, could harm U.S. national security.
It requires Commerce to compile lists of countries divided into high-risk and low risk, blocking export of data to the high-risk nations.
The bill would block TikTok and similar companies from exporting personal U.S. data to restricted foreign governments, to parent companies and to people on the Bureau of Industry and Security's Entity sanctions list.
The data export rules would not apply to journalism and other First Amendment protected speech.
"Data brokers dolling out Americans' personal information to companies in foreign nations can be more than a violation of privacy -- it can be a serious national security threat," said Whitehouse in a statement. "We need sensible rules of the road to prevent our personal data from falling into the wrong hands."
Hagerty said in a statement, "The ability for foreign companies to legally obtain Americans' sensitive and private information undermines national security and infringes personal privacy. I'm pleased to work with my colleagues to protect Americans' personal data from being weaponized by adversaries."
In March the Biden administration threatened to ban TikTok in the United States if the video app's Chinese owners refuse to sell their stakes in the company. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States contacted TikTok over national security concerns.
