On Wednesday, President Joe Biden of the United States put his signature on an executive order aimed at safeguarding the personal information of Americans from foreign enemies.

The directive aims to prohibit large-scale transfers of various types of data, including geolocation, biometric, health, and financial information, to countries that are considered high-risk.

Some countries mentioned as potential concerns by the Biden administration include China, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela.

“The White House has stated that individuals with malicious intentions can exploit this data to monitor and locate American citizens, including those in the military, to invade their personal privacy, and to share the information with other data dealers and foreign intelligence agencies. Such data can facilitate invasive surveillance, fraudulent activities, extortion, and other infringements of privacy.”

Emily Benson, the leader of the Project on Trade and Technology at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, informed VOA’s Mandarin department that the executive order is a significant move by the U.S. government to establish a framework for ensuring privacy.

Benson stated that the American method of data management differs from that of other allies, such as the European Union, in that it is primarily focused on national security. Therefore, the executive order serves as a national security tool rather than a privacy measure.

According to Sarah Bauerle Danzman, a faculty member at Indiana University’s international studies program, she expressed worries to VOA’s Mandarin division about the possibility of sensitive data falling into the hands of potential enemies. This includes personal information of American government and military personnel, as well as data that could potentially be exploited for surveillance purposes.

Bauerle Danzman expressed worries about the potential misuse of bulk data to monitor and manipulate diaspora groups, which could lead to suppressing or threatening these communities.

Hannah Kelley, a member of the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, informed VOA’s Mandarin service that the executive order aims to achieve significant and immediate advancements in data protection.

Kelley mentioned that there is a current discussion surrounding domestic legislation for data privacy, but there is a agreed-upon approach to safeguarding U.S. data outside of the country.

She suggested that we assume countries we are wary of will somehow gain access to sensitive personal and government data that is readily available. In response, the U.S. must take measures to make it as challenging as possible for these countries to do so.

According to Paul Triolo, a leader in technology policy at Albright Stonebridge Group, governments such as the United States are working to achieve similar goals towards China by utilizing both publicly accessible and covertly gathered data sources.

Triolo also highlighted the possible issues caused by limitations on data access.

Restricting access to healthcare and genomic data carries a risk of hindering progress in healthcare for citizens in both China and the U.S. This is due to the potential loss of advancements that come from analyzing large amounts of data under strict privacy and auditing measures. With such measures in place, breakthroughs in treatments can be achieved, utilizing various AI algorithms to uncover new connections and insights from clinical data. According to Triolo, this approach is crucial for maximizing the potential of data analysis in healthcare.

The Associated Press and Reuters provided some information for this report.