back to article Uncle Sam tells nosy nations to keep their hands off Americans' personal data

US President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order today that aims to prevent the sale or transfer of Americans' sensitive personal information and government-related data to adversarial countries including China and Russia. In addition to the executive order, the White House will propose regulations that prohibit …

  1. Necrohamster Silver badge
    Black Helicopters

    Pot, meet kettle...

    I'd guess that the US is the world's #1 hoarder of personal information and the associated metadata of non-citizens.

    For me, the US is a "country of concern".

    1. Pascal Monett Silver badge

      Re: Pot, meet kettle...

      Entirely agree. It is very rich to hear this coming from the White House, when the US is a country which has already been subject to privacy treaties and addendums, just to try and keep the data slurping slightly in check.

      If it wasn't for Max Schrems, the US would still be the black hole hoovering every single bit of data it wants to be. And I'm not sure that the valiant efforts of Schrems and company have really put any sort of dent into that practice.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Pot, meet kettle...

        They haven't. Everything that the US could do before, we can do now. Nothing changed and nothing will change until you get your assholes to tell our assholes to fuck off.

    2. ThatOne Silver badge
      Devil

      Re: Pot, meet kettle...

      "Do as I say, not as I do"...

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Pot, meet kettle...

      Actually I'd look in the mirror at the UK and the legacy of Priti Awful amongst others.

      1. Necrohamster Silver badge

        Re: Pot, meet kettle...

        I've got no problem calling out the UK's hypocrisy either, but this article is about the US so let's stay on track eh?

  2. David Harper 1

    My irony meter just broke

    The hypocrisy of the U.S. government is breathtaking. If, like me, you're a non-American married to an ex-pat American, living outside the United States, then the U.S. Treasury Department demands access to details of any joint bank accounts that you and your American spouse hold in non-U.S. banks if the balance ever exceeds $10,000. Many non-American financial institutions now refuse to take on ex-pat Americans as customers, because the U.S. government threatens non-compliant banks with severe penalties.

    1. Necrohamster Silver badge

      Re: My irony meter just broke

      This is related to the IRS taxing the income of US citizens who live outside the US?

      The life hack in this case is for the ex-pat American to renounce their citizenship.

      1. David Harper 1

        Re: My irony meter just broke

        No, this the Reporting of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts law, commonly known as FBAR. It is mandatory for any U.S. citizen who has a bank account in a non-US bank with a balance of $10,000 or more during each calendar year, and is independent of any liability to pay US income tax.

        As for your 'life hack', the US government has made renunciation of citizenship extremely difficult. And in any case, why *should* a US citizen have to renounce their citizenship?

        1. Neil Barnes Silver badge

          Re: My irony meter just broke

          As the owner of a handful of ancient shares part of which appear to generate minimal returns in the states - I've just had to fill out a US infernal revenue form to account for automated withholding. It delights me to realise that the costs of posting the form to me significantly outweigh any tax due on a 40c dividend...

        2. Necrohamster Silver badge

          Re: My irony meter just broke

          "And in any case, why *should* a US citizen have to renounce their citizenship?"

          Well I suppose if they want to pay taxes they don't derive any benefit from...never mind, carry on

          1. Blazde Silver badge

            Re: My irony meter just broke

            Except they do derive benefit. The US Department of State will go to quite extreme lengths to rescue even non-resident citizens from various worldwide perils. It's also a right to a relatively safe place to reside if your preferred home country goes tits up.

            Whether it's worth it depends heavily, I suppose, on your income and how much you care about losing some of it, or in practice how much you care about submitting lots of paperwork to some of the world's most anal tax officials to prove you don't need to lose some of it.

            1. EricB123 Silver badge

              Re: My irony meter just broke

              "Except they do derive benefit. The US Department of State will go to quite extreme lengths to rescue even non-resident citizens from various worldwide perils."

              No, they don't.

            2. Necrohamster Silver badge

              Re: My irony meter just broke

              The US Department of State will go to quite extreme lengths to rescue even non-resident citizens from various worldwide perils

              It's well known that you have to pay back the rescue costs, as we've seen recently in Afghanistan and elsewhere. If they decide you're worth rescuing, they don't do it for free. Even if the US government organises for another country to evacuate a citizen, the citizen still gets a bill.

              Generally, individuals evacuated on a U.S. government-coordinated transport, including charter and military flights or ships, even if those transports are provided by another country’s government, must sign an Evacuee Manifest and Promissory Note (Form DS-5528) note prior to departure. The Department of State uses the Form DS-5528 to document who got on which transport, and it lets us know how to contact evacuees for billing purposes.

              https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/emergencies/for-evacuated-citizens.html

              It's also a right to a relatively safe place to reside if your preferred home country goes tits up.

              lol no. Now I know you're having a laugh... Somalia's safer than the US.

              Almost 5,000 people have died in U.S. gun violence so far in 2024

        3. Dostoevsky Bronze badge

          Re: My irony meter just broke

          1. Good for the US government. Citizens pay taxes. No free rides just because someone's living in Paris or the Bahamas.

          2. It's not hard to renounce US citizenship. (And I shudder at that phrase...) Just head to the nearest consulate and say you'd like to. The instructions are in the passport.

          1. abend0c4 Silver badge

            Re: My irony meter just broke

            The instructions are in the passport

            To be accompanied by a substantial application fee.

            To be fair, though, the US government does seem to be encouraging people to quit - they're planning to slash the renunciation fee to $450. Poor old BoJo had to pay $2350.

            1. Lurko

              Re: My irony meter just broke

              "Poor old BoJo had to pay $2350."

              The real fucker is that because he's renounced his US citizenship, the UK government can't revoke his UK citizenship. I know the shallow cowards never would, but the idea of offshoring Johnson just like we have Harry the Waster* does appeal.

              * Yeah, he could come back, but lets hope not.

    2. Sub 20 Pilot

      Re: My irony meter just broke

      Fucking hypocrites. Always been the same with the US. Do as I say not as I do.

  3. Roland6 Silver badge

    “ aims to prevent the sale or transfer of Americans' sensitive personal information”

    Will this mean non-US HQ’d versions of 23andMe (for example) will have to check the citizenship of users so they don’t accidentally buy genetic data etc. from US nationals? …

  4. wolfetone Silver badge

    I thought I lost a month of my life reading this. But no, a quick check of my calendar tells me it's not 1st April today.

  5. Pete 2 Silver badge

    The best things in life

    > prevent the sale or transfer of Americans' sensitive personal information and government-related data

    At this point I suspect the baddies are either climbing back into their chairs after a good ROFL, or scratching their heads in confusion.

    In both cases wondering why anyone would go to the expense of buying this data when it is easier to simply take it, for free, from unsecured sources.

  6. Neil Barnes Silver badge
    Holmes

    Stop banning the sale of data.

    Start banning the collection of data.

    1. ecofeco Silver badge

      Re: Stop banning the sale of data.

      Exactly. Full stop.

      ALL personal data should never be sold. Shouldn't even be collected except for banking (holding my nose on that one) and medical.

      The world does not need to know which hand we wipes our arses with.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Irony overload

    Coffee keyboard interface looks fairly ropey too

    And I just shat myself laughing.

  8. stiine Silver badge
    Mushroom

    Max Schrems needs to use this when he files his next action in the EU.

  9. MrAptronym

    Why is it legal to sell this information to other American companies?

    1. OhForF' Silver badge

      Why is it legal to collect this information (in bulk)?

      FTFY

  10. dadbot5000

    So we're finally doing something about TikTok?

    1. Necrohamster Silver badge

      So we're finally doing something about TikTok?

      I thought Trump was supposed to have done something about TikTok, by mandating that Oracle hosted US citizen's TikTok data in the US?

  11. IGotOut Silver badge

    Cuba?

    Seriously?

    Are they still suffering from cold war syndrome?

    Ah yeah, can't have a country that doesn't think money is everything undermining corporate greed.

  12. ecofeco Silver badge
    Facepalm

    They what?!

    How was this ever allowed in the first place?!

    Oh wait. Money. Never mind.

  13. Groo The Wanderer

    How about Americans stop hoovering global mail and phone traffic "because they're not Americans and have no rights?"

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