There is a fast-moving bill in Congress proposed by Frank Pallone. H.R. 7520 known as Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024 the goal is to “prohibit data brokers from transferring sensitive data of United States individuals to foreign adversaries, and for other purposes” passed unanimously yesterday in the House after being introduced on March 5th. If the name Frank Pallone rings a bell that is because Congressman Pallone has made a splash in TCPAWorld recently with his bill that proposes amendments to the TCPA with the “Do Not Disturb Act”.

The new bill would charge the FTC as the enforcer under Unfair or Deceptive Acts of Practice and subject violators to the penalties along with the privileges and immunities under the Federal Trade Commission Act and would prohibit

data broker to sell, license, rent, trade, transfer, release, disclose, provide access to, or otherwise make available sensitive data of a United States individual to—

(1) any foreign adversary country; or

(2) any entity that is controlled by a foreign adversary.

Controlled by a Foreign Adversary is defined as

(A) a foreign person that is domiciled in, is headquartered in, has its principal place of business in, or is organized under the laws of a foreign adversary country;

(B) an entity with respect to which a foreign person or combination of foreign persons described in subparagraph (A) directly or indirectly own at least a 20 percent stake; or

(C) a person subject to the direction or control of a foreign person or entity described in subparagraph (A) or (B).

This bill addresses sensitive data which includes 17 unique categories specific to residents of the United States. These categories include information like SSN, driver’s license, biometrics, precise geolocation, and individual’s private communications, including voicemails, emails, text, direct messages, etc. You can view the bill HERE and see the full list of all categories currently being considered. There are a few limited exemptions offered under the new bill.

Pallone is quoted as saying “This sensitive information allows data brokers and their customers to make invasive inferences about an individual, including inferences about a person’s travel patterns, health, political beliefs, personal interests, and financial well-being. The breadth and scope of sensitive personal information aggregated by data brokers makes the sale of that data to our foreign adversaries a unique threat to national security and individual privacy. Right now, there are no restrictions on who can buy this information. Today, Congress took a significant step by specifically prohibiting the sale of Americans’ sensitive information to our foreign adversaries. Today’s unanimous vote should help build momentum for action in the Senate soon so that we can get this important bipartisan legislation signed into law.”