Executive Order To Prevent Access To Americans' Bulk Sensitive Personal Data And Government-Related Data By Countries Of Concern

On February 28, 2024, the Biden Administration issued Executive Order (EO) 13873, focused on restricting certain transactions involving Americans' personal data, as well as sensitive government data, to specific countries. According to the White House, the EO is in response to concerns that sensitive data, whether legally obtained through commercial relationships or stolen by state-sponsored threat actors, can be exploited for espionage, blackmail, intimidation, or to reveal insights about military populations.

Following the release of the EO, the Department of Justice (DOJ) released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) to implement the EO's data transaction restrictions. As directed by the EO, several other agencies will take additional actions in coming months. Comments to the ANPRM are due within 45 days of publication in the Federal Register (approximately April 15, 2024). The DOJ must issue a proposed rule (an update from the ANPRM) on the data