The Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries Act, HR 7520, was unanimously passed by the US House of Representatives, with 414 votes in favour and 0 against. The bill bans organizations that profit from selling personal data, known as data brokers, from making data accessible to a foreign adversary country or entities controlled by adversaries. It also authorizes the Federal Trade Commission to seek civil penalties of more than $50,000 for each violation.
A second Bill, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, HR 7521, has also been passed, with 352 votes in favour and 65 against. The bill requires ByteDance to sell TikTok and would apply to other apps owned or tied to foreign adversaries. The move comes after President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order barring data brokers from selling the personal data of American citizens to countries of concern in February. Both bills now head to the Senate, where it is less clear what will happen. However, if the bills are passed, they will become the first federal privacy laws in years.
Additional commentary from IAPP.
Meanwhile, in the UK, the Financial Times (£) reports that leaders of two UK parliamentary select committees are calling for action to combat the risk of China influencing UK affairs and democratic elections.
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