GW Expert Available: Biden to Sign Executive Order Aimed at Protecting Americans’ Personal Data from Hostile Countries

U.S. President Joe Biden is trying to stop foreign entities from buying large troves of Americans’ personal data. Biden will issue an executive order later today that’s intended to safeguard this sensitive data from countries deemed hostile. According to CNBC, “the Biden Administration is worried that data brokers and other commercial entities will sell this information to ‘countries of concern-which have a track record of collecting and misusing data on Americans’.”

Susan Ariel Aaronson, research professor of international affairs, is the director of the Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub and co-PI at the NSF Trustworthy AI Institute, TRAILS, at the George Washington University. As part of TRAILS, Aaronson leads research on data and AI governance. Overall, her research focuses on AI governance, data governance, international trade, competitiveness in data-driven services such as XR and AI and digital trade.

Aaronson wrote the paper, “Data Is Dangerous: Comparing the Risks That the United States, Canada and Germany See in Data Troves,” which asses how these countries respond to data risks posed by popular social media apps.

If you would like to speak with Prof. Aaronson, please contact GW Media Relations Specialist Cate Douglass at [email protected]. 

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