Luján, Cortez Masto, Grassley, Push to Protect Americans’ Personal Information from China, Other Foreign Adversaries

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) reintroduced the Internet Application Integrity and Disclosure (App ID) Act to help protect Americans online. This legislation would require operators of websites and mobile applications to disclose if their applications have been developed, are controlled, or store data within adversarial countries, such as China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran.

"The internet plays an essential role in our daily lives, and with its rapid growth comes a responsibility to protect users from foreign adversaries," said Senator Luján. "I'm proud to co-sponsor the bipartisan Internet App ID Act to protect Americans online and help ensure they know when their sensitive data may be accessed by foreign actors."

"While the internet has revolutionized how we live, work, and play every single day, we have to be doing more to protect the privacy of American citizens," said Senator Cortez Masto. "There are millions of websites and apps out there, and my Internet App ID Act is an essential piece of legislation that will help American consumers make informed decisions to protect their data from being controlled or accessed by foreign adversaries."

The Internet App ID Act would help prevent foreign adversaries - like China, Iran, Russia, and North Korea - from being able to utilize apps to store, expose,and transfer the personal data of American citizens without greater transparency. Failure to properly disclose or presenting false information would result in fines from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

To better safeguard Americans' data, the Internet App ID Act would:

• Require anyone that maintains a website or application to disclosewhether:
  • An app is owned, wholly or partially, by an adversarial country;
  • An app stores or maintains user data within an adversarial country; or
  • An adversarial country or a government-owned entity has access to user data
• Allow the FTC to enforce violations of the law.

Full bill text is available HERE. Summary of the bill is available HERE.

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