Topline
Five senators are set to introduce bipartisan legislation Wednesday that would make exports of Americans’ private data subject to licensing requirements similar to those governing the sale of military and advanced technologies in an effort to address national security concerns surrounding TikTok without implementing a full ban on the app, CNN reported.
Legislation set to be introduced would require the Commerce Department to determine if countries are … [+]
Key Facts
Under the proposed legislation, only the transfer of personal information to places deemed “untrustworthy” by the Commerce Department would be restricted, and transfers to those places would only be allowed if companies could prove they have a “valid reason,” CNN reported; transfers to “trustworthy” places and internet users’ own transfers of personal data would not be regulated.
Countries would reportedly be listed as trustworthy if they have enough privacy safeguards in place to prevent sensitive data from being transferred further and if they hadn’t engaged in “hostile foreign intelligence operations, including information operations, against the United States.”
The legislation—a version of which was introduced in the Senate last year but didn’t progress—would apply to thousands of companies that routinely transfer data to other jurisdictions, like data brokers and other social media companies.
Although TikTok isn’t mentioned by name in the proposed legislation, it’s indirectly targeted as the draft bill prohibits data transfers from a company with at least 1 million users to a parent company that could get data requests from “a hostile foreign government,” an aide of a lead senator on the bill told CNN.
The proposed legislation, titled the Protecting Americans’ Data From Foreign Surveillance Act, comes at a time when TikTok has been under loads of criticism after reports indicated the app was able to track user keystrokes and that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, planned to spy on American citizens using TikTok (including Forbes reporters).
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said in a statement to CNN that as is, information about “everything from where we go, to what we buy and what kind of health care services we receive” is for sale in China and Russia “to nearly anyone with a credit card,” but that this legislation could change that.
Crucial Quote
“If foreign adversaries can access our data, they can control it. We need to ensure the data that people in Wyoming put online is not available to nations that threaten our safety and security,” said Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), a leader of the bill, in a statement to Forbes. “With this bipartisan legislation, we will ensure that companies like TikTok are not funneling your personal data to those adversaries.”
Key Background
The U.S. has considered banning the popular video-sharing app over concerns that its Chinese ownership poses a threat to national security. Though a nationwide ban has not yet been implemented, a majority of states—and Congress—have banned the use of the app on government devices out of security concerns. TikTok claims it has never gotten a request from the Chinese government for U.S. user data and, if it did, leadership would not comply. TikTok executives have also said a complete ban on the app would require use of “extraordinary and unprecedented measures based on nothing more than unfounded speculation” and that there is no support to the allegations that the app could provide information to the Chinese government. Experts have said it’s legally unlikely for the federal government to pass a ban on TikTok, or even successfully regulate it, for a number of reasons ranging from First Amendment concerns to the inability to force TikTok into new ownership.
Tangent
Montana recently became the first state to pass a total ban on TikTok, though the social media company quickly filed a lawsuit, alleging the ban “unlawfully abridges one of the core freedoms” allowed under the First Amendment by suppressing free speech. It’s unclear if the law would punish individual users of the app, but it would prohibit downloads of the app within the state by fining any “entity”—like the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store—$10,000 per day each time someone accesses it, “is offered the ability” to access it or downloads it.
Further Reading
First on CNN: New bipartisan bill in Senate could address TikTok security concerns without a ban (CNN)
Montana Governor Signs TikTok Ban—But Legal Challenges Are Expected (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2023/06/14/tiktok-ban-alternative-new-bill-seeks-to-tackle-apps-access-to-us-data-report-says/