White House, Justice Department unveil new plan to protect personal data from China and Russia

Washington — The Biden administration is proposing regulations to help the Justice Department stop data brokers from selling Americans' personal information to "countries of concern," the White House announced Wednesday.

President Biden is issuing an executive order that will for the first time propose guardrails that shield bulk biometric and healthcare data and financial information collected by businesses inside the U.S. and that are aimed at preventing the material from being transferred to foreign adversaries, including China, Russia, Iran, Cuba, Venezuela and North Korea. The data — including genomic and geolocation information — are collected by tech companies and sold by legal means to data brokers but can eventually make their way to scammers and intelligence agencies abroad.

The regulations announced Wednesday are expected to work to prevent that. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement that the executive order would give the Justice Department "the authority to block countries that pose a threat to our national security from harvesting Americans' most sensitive personal data."