China and Russia are buying data from brokers who assemble huge amounts of information on people, from favorite hobbies to household income and health conditions, and then typically sell it to marketers that target them with ads.
The U.S. said the countries were using their access to the data for blackmail and surveillance and could employ artificial intelligence to enhance their use of the information. The White House made the officials available on the condition of anonymity.
Biden will ask the Justice Department to write rules restricting the sale of information about Americans’ locations, health and genetics to China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Venezuela, as well as any entities linked to those countries. The restrictions would also cover financial information, biometric data and other types of information that could identify individuals and sensitive information related to the government.
The executive order is also the latest escalation of a digital cold war between Washington and Beijing. The United States has cut Chinese hardware manufacturers off from crucial supplies and ried to force the sale of TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance.
Mr. Biden’s order is part of a trend in which countries are increasingly trying to control data for their protection and economic benefit.
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