The U.S. House has approved legislation intended to keep the private data of Americans secure. Speaking on the House floor this week, Congressman Tim Walberg said the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act is a follow up to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
“This is a common sense measure that piggybacks off our efforts to decouple TikTok from the Chinese Communist Party and protect our national security,” Walberg said. “Our foreign adversaries should not have access to our most sensitive data. Allowing so risks manipulation and espionage.”
Walberg said more is coming.
“We’ll continue to work towards comprehensive data privacy protections, and especially protections, and especially protections for kids and teens online.”
Walberg said the new bill contains specific protections for members of the military and minors. Sensitive data, as defined in the bill, includes Social Security numbers, financial account numbers, biometric information, genetic information, precise geolocation information, and emails or text messages. The bill would be enforced by the Federal Trade Commission.
