On February 28, 2024, President Joe Biden issued Executive Order (“EO”) 14117, empowering the Department of Justice (DOJ) to regulate the export of certain consumer data, in order to prevent certain countries’ governments from obtaining bulk sets of especially sensitive personal data. The EO, “Preventing Access to Americans’ Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and United States Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern,” addresses longstanding concerns from the Executive Branch that certain foreign governments are amassing sensitive genomic, biometric, health, geolocation, financial, and other personal data and using it to engage in activities that threaten national security, such as espionage (including through computer hacking), blackmail, transnational repression, and disinformation campaigns.
