Thread by @ChorzempaMartin

Thread on big news from Biden Admin today: revoking ad hoc mess of TikTok and WeChat executive orders and replacing with a more consistent, comprehensive framework to evaluate foreign app security.

I advocated for this last August here: piie.com/blogs/realtime… 1/n

First major piece of news to me is quite provocative TBH official designation of China as a "foreign adversary." It is the only one mentioned, though the rules will extend beyond China it's clear the target whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/…

Second, this is about a lot more than just Chinese apps: the order requires a report on risks from sale and transfer of personal/sensitive data, which faces virtually zero regs today, a gaping loophole in approach of data protection through CFIUS, as @SammSacks has also argued

Third, it shows the Biden Admin's thinking as it builds the new CFIUS-like mechanism at @CommerceGov for ICT supply chain risk review. Many hoped they would scrap this Trump-era expansion of gov powers, but it's politically untenable to walk back security measures on CN

Industry is rightly concerned about the massive uncertainty and this new regime creates, allowing gov to peek under hood of the tech they import and apps used here, but this trend of increased scrutiny of data flows and foreign apps is inevitable.

History of CFIUS tells us that these new security regimes are extremely costly in terms of cancelled deals and uncertainty when they begin--no one knows what needs to be reported, etc, but if designed well they can be minimally intrusive in the longer term and protect well.

This is a very positive step, but my hope is that a regime this important to econ and security goes through the full debate and legislative process like FIRRMA & ECRA did, with signed laws on which to firmly base US actions, instead of emergency declarations from the executive.