US prohibits data sales to adversarial nations

The U.S. Department of Justice has finalized a rule banning the sales of Americans’ biometric, geolocation, health, genomic, and financial data, as well as U.S. government data to adversarial nations, including China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Venezuela, and Cuba, which was initially proposed as part of a February executive order, according to The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

Adversaries’ mounting data collection efforts to strengthen artificial intelligence capabilities, cyberespionage operations, and influence campaigns against political opponents, dissidents, journalists, and others have necessitated the finalization of the rule, said the Justice Department.

“This powerful new national-security program is designed to ensure that Americans’ personal data is no longer permitted to be sold to hostile foreign powers, whether through outright purchase or other means of commercial access,” said Assistant Attorney General for National Security Matthew Olsen.

Implementation of the rules will commence three months after being published in the Federal Register.