Thread by @SecureDemocracy

The US lacks a comprehensive law to regulate Americans' data, opening up vulnerabilities that foreign governments like China can use to their own ends.

@LindsayPGorman, Bret Schafer, @tweetclarita, and @ghoshd7 say it's time to focus on concrete solutions.securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/national-secur…

Foreign govs can take advantage of the US' fragmented approach to data privacy to surveil Americans, develop targeted biothreats, and more

The authors lay out 5 steps Congress can take to address this problem in our tech policy series w/ @HKS_BizGov.
securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/national-secur…

1⃣Require third-party data brokers to register with the FTC, pay annual registration fees to fund enforcement, disclose ties to foreign governments and corporations, and establish limits on the types of data that can be sold to third parties without explicit user consent.

2⃣Limit the acquisition and sale of biometric and genomic data (e.g., facial recognition images, fingerprints, DNA) to exclude certain covered foreign entities.

3⃣Require more of companies that amass citizen data by tying cybersecurity requirements to the amount and type of data collected, processed, or stored.

4⃣Pass a small business cybersecurity tax credit.

5⃣Require companies to notify a federal authority, such as @CISAgov, of a breach, including the type of incident, soon after the company becomes aware of the intrusion.

The United States has to guard against the risk that authoritarian data collection poses for free speech and democracy.

@LindsayPGorman, Bret Schafer, @tweetclarita, and @ghoshd7 explain how in their latest.

w/ @HKS_BizGov
securingdemocracy.gmfus.org/national-secur…