WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) introduced the Protecting MilitaryServicemembers’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act to prevent data brokers from non-adversarial nations from purchasing U.S. servicemembers data and then selling it to adversarial nations including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. This legislation closes the remaining loophole not covered in Cassidy’s Protecting Military Servicemembers’ Data Act of 2023 which was signed into law in 2024 as part of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act.
“Our enemies do anything they can to gain advantage over our servicemembers,” said Dr. Cassidy. “Protecting their data is a matter of our national security and their privacy.”
The Protecting Military Servicemembers Data from Foreign Adversaries Act would:
- Make it illegal for a data broker to sell, resell, license, trade, or otherwise provide or make available a military servicemember list to any adversarial nation.
- Contractually require that military servicemember lists bought by foreign data brokers may not be sold, resold, licensed, traded, or otherwise provided or made available to any adversarial nation.
- Allows the Federal Trade Commission to take action against non-U.S. persons who sell servicemember data to adversarial nations.
- Require the Government Accountability office to provide a report within one year on the enforcement of the law and recommendations for expansion.
Cassidy was joined by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) in introducing this legislation.
Background
In 2023, Cassidy, Warren, and then-U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fl) introduced the Protecting MilitaryService Members’ Data Act of 2023 to protect the data of U.S. servicemembers by preventing data brokers from selling lists of military personnel to adversarial nations including China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.
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