Tightened Data Transaction Regulations Reflect National Security Concerns And Geopolitical Dynamics

Today's Deep Dive is 1,396 words and a 9-minute read.

Earlier this year, the Biden administration took a significant step to extend protections over the sensitive personal data of Americans with Executive Order 14117 (EO). The EO, which takes the step of applying protections to the international sale of Americans' sensitive data by data brokers to specific countries of concern (notably including China, Russia and Iran), makes clear the White House's rising concern over the implications of foreign access to Americans' sensitive data. While the EO has not yet been fully implemented, the bipartisan consensus on the risks of malign foreign access to Americans' data means that it is likely to go forward in whole or significant part, with important implications for US and multinational businesses, or any US persons involved in the sale of such sensitive data. (For a more comprehensive legal take on the implementation of EO 14117, see Steptoe's "New National Security