(Bloomberg) -- The Biden administration intends to unveil as soon as next week a new effort to prevent foreign adversaries such as China from accessing troves of Americans’ sensitive personal data, according to people familiar with the planned executive order.

An order to be signed by President Joe Biden will direct the attorney general and the Department of Homeland Security to issue new restrictions on transactions involving data that could threaten national security if obtained by “countries of concern.”

The order is aimed at heading off access to bulk sensitive data through now-legal transactions involving data brokers, third-party vendor agreements, employment agreements and investment agreements, according to a draft of the order obtained by Bloomberg last month.

The effort focuses on preventing China, in particular, from accessing swaths of sensitive data about Americans, including information on their finances, genetic makeup, voice patterns and even keyboard usage habits, according to the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the pending plan.

The National Security Council at the White House, the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department declined to comment.

The exploitation of Americans’ most closely guarded data could undermine human rights, privacy and innovation, the draft order said. 

US intelligence agencies are concerned that China could train its artificial intelligence models on this data, providing its industry with a strategic advantage, while also letting Xi Jinping’s government build detailed profiles of specific Americans including US government employees, the people said. 

In recent weeks, the administration has briefed external advisers and companies on its provisions, a process that’s proven contentious at times, the people said. The administration is responding by ensuring that the regulation is narrowly targeted to avoid unnecessary economic impact, two of the people said.

The administration plans to target only transactions involving bulk data, such as sources that could involve a million individuals or more, according to one of the people.

Earlier: Biden Aims to Stop Foreign Foes From Exploiting US Data

The planned restrictions have the potential to change how the US engages with Chinese companies, from TikTok, the Chinese-owned video sharing site, to biotechs that collect and analyze DNA. 

The sweeping order has prompted some misgivings at the Treasury and Commerce Departments, where officials have raised concerns about its potential economic effect, the people said.

But the draft order provides for the Treasury, Commerce and State Departments to assist the attorney general in preparing a report assessing the order’s effectiveness as well as the economic impact of restricting certain transactions.

Aaron Cooper, head of global policy for BSA/The Software Alliance, which counts Microsoft Corp. and Salesforce Inc. among its members, said the executive order would set a new precedent from the US, for the first time restricting the transfer of data to specific locations. He said regulation should instead focus on creating strong security and privacy requirements for all companies handling user data, regardless of whether it’s stored domestically or in a country of concern.

“There’s a really good reason why the US government, for as long as I’m aware, has been a strong proponent of data flows,” Cooper said. He said that US limits on data transfers to foreign countries could set a precedent that emboldens other nations to limit access to data. 

--With assistance from Christopher Condon, Anna Edgerton and Mackenzie Hawkins.

(Updates fifth paragraph with Commerce Department declining to comment)

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