Senate Bills Could Control Data Exports, Counter Economic Coercion

Lawmakers this week previewed two bills that could expand U.S. export controls, including one that could require the U.S. to impose new license requirements on certain data exports and another that would require the administration to create a tool to counter economic coercion.

Sen. Cynthia Lumis, R-Wyo., said she and a bipartisan group of senators plan to reintroduce the Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Surveillance Act, which would require the Commerce Department to block exports of sensitive personal data to certain high-risk countries. The bill, introduced during the last Congress, would seek to address the “national security threat posed by the export of Americans' personal data” to China, Lumis said during a Senate Banking Committee hearing this week.

“There are no rules outlining the sale of data on sensitive topics, including information on military and intelligence personnel, to the Chinese government,” Lumis said. Thea Kendler, the Bureau of Industry and Security's assistant secretary for export enforcement, said during the hearing that the ​​”approach of export controls has been on goods, software and technology, not on personal identifiable information. But I do share your concerns.”

Lumis said Congress will look to address the issue, calling it a “very bipartisan” effort. She specifically hopes the rules can address issues posed by distributed ledger technologies, which use ledgers stored on separate but connected devices within a network to improve data accuracy and security. Those technologies are “beginning to really blossom in terms of the capabilities of using distributed ledger technology and data exports,” she said. “It's a growing area of interest, it's a growing area of concern, and it's certainly a growing technology that we all need to be aware of.”

Another bill previewed by Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., would direct the administration to create a “common economic defense mechanism” to counter economic coercion. The legislation, which Menendez is still drafting, would “build supply chain resilience, promote stronger export controls, and protect critical technologies.

“While I welcome the G-7 leaders' statement calling for the creation of a new coordination platform on economic coercion to promote cooperation within and beyond the G-7, I think we have to go further,” he said, referencing commitments made by G-7 countries during a summit in Japan last month (see 2305220017).