PRESS RELEASE – Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09), and Congressman Rick W. Allen (GA-12) introduced the bipartisan Telling Everyone the Location of Data Leaving the US Act (TELL Act), to protect American data from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“The American people should not be at risk for exploitation by China or CCP state aligned companies mining their data. In the 21st century, we must ensure that our people know who has access to their data and actively work to safeguard protections defending personal information from our adversaries,” said Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-09).
“Our bipartisan legislation will strengthen consumer protection and allow the American public to know if their data has been compromised by China or Chinese state-owned companies.”
“Communist China has consistently proven it will stop at nothing to undermine US national security interests, including the exploitation of sensitive information,” said Congressman Rick Allen (GA-12). “The TELL Act will help ensure Americans’ personal data does not fall into the hands of the CCP regime, while also delivering much-needed accountability.”
“As data security becomes increasingly important to the American people, I am proud to introduce this legislation to strengthen privacy protection laws and build on President Trump’s peace-through-strength agenda.”
BACKGROUND: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has broad federal jurisdiction over consumer data use and privacy. The TELL Act would enable the FTC to endorse rules that would make it easier for Americans to know if China has compromised their data and if it is being stored, transferred, or exposed to China or companies owned by the Chinese Communist Party. Under this legislation, failing to disclose this information or providing false information will result in civil fines from the FTC.