US seeks to stop citizens' data exploitation for blackmail, espionage - Bloomberg News

(Reuters) - The United States plans to announce a new executive order to seek to prevent foreign adversaries from accessing troves of highly sensitive personal data about Americans and people connected to the U.S. government, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.

The draft order focuses on ways that foreign adversaries are gaining access to Americans’ "highly sensitive" personal data through legal means and through intermediaries like data brokers, third-party vendor agreements, employment agreements or investment agreements, the report added.

The administration is concerned about the collection of data on political figures, journalists, academics, activists and members of marginalized communities, as well as patient data obtained through health-care providers and researchers, the report said.

In October last year , Biden signed an executive order requiring developers of AI systems that pose risks to U.S. national security, economy and public safety to share results of safety tests with the federal government.

The order goes beyond voluntary commitments AI companies had made this year.

The White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment. 

(Reporting by Urvi Dugar in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)