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.
@MuesliAlfieLibertarian2mos2MO
Use of the terms "battle" and "war" to describe economic competition is hyperbole designed to needlessly instill fear.
@DelegateGenesisGreen2mos2MO
Any military conflict between China and the US needs to be avoided at all costs.
Now is the time to engage with China, rather than isolate China.
@ShamefulD1rectGreen2mos2MO
How about if the US and China find ways to cooperate to our mutual benefit, instead of competing? There have been productive educational, scientific, and technological exchanges over the past two decades. Here in Seattle there is the GIX collaborative computer science training program between Microsoft, the University of Washington, and Guangzhou University. Instead of stealing each other's technological secrets, perhaps it would be more productive to develop new technologies together. Instead of dividing the world up into spheres of influence (that worked so well in the 19th century!), how about the US and China find ways to cooperate in addressing international challenges? Why must the future be either US or China domination? I know, sounds naive, but how many wasteful cold wars do we need to go through to learn better?
China has no intent on using military strength to gain world dominance, they are way smarter than that. China seeks to become at the leading international player through economic prowess. Unlike most of our populist politicians, China realizes that globalization is here to stay, and that automation, artificial intelligence and knowledge based economies is the future of the winner nations.
@ISIDEWITH2mos2MO
@ISIDEWITH2mos2MO
