EC Georgia News

Today, Congressman Rick W. Allen and Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur introduced the Telling Everyone the Location of Data Leaving the U.S. Act, known as the TELL Act. The bill aims to protect American data from potential exploitation by the Chinese Communist Party. Allen and Kaptur provided statements regarding their newly proposed legislation.

"Communist China has consistently proven it will stop at nothing to undermine U.S. national security interests, including the exploitation of sensitive information," stated Congressman Rick Allen. "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."

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur echoed the importance of protecting American data, stating, "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. 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."

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) currently holds broad jurisdiction over consumer data use and privacy. Should the TELL Act be implemented, the FTC would be able to establish rules making it easier for Americans to determine if their data has been compromised by China or affiliated companies. A failure to disclose or provide accurate information under this legislation could lead to civil fines from the FTC.