White House concerned that personal data of US citizens could be passed to China

The White House is reportedly concerned that three Chinese companies operating cloud services in the US could pass the personal data of US citizens to Beijing.

A report citing sources familiar with the issue says that the US Department of Commerce is carrying out an investigation …

Reuters reports.

The Biden administration is investigating China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom over concerns the firms could exploit access to American data through their U.S. cloud and internet businesses by providing it to Beijing, three sources familiar with the matter said. Authorities at the Commerce Department are running the investigation.

Investigators are said to have issued subpoenas to all three of the state-backed companies, demanding information which will help them reach a conclusion. The report says that risk analyses have been completed for China Mobile and China Telecom, though the conclusions are as yet unknown. The risk assessment of China Unicom is said to be at an earlier stage.

Nobody involved wanted to comment, other than the Chinese embassy.

The Chinese companies and their U.S.-based lawyers did not respond to requests for comment. The Justice Department declined to comment and the White House referred questions to Commerce, which declined to comment. The Chinese Embassy in Washington said it hopes the United States will “stop suppressing Chinese companies under false pretexts,” adding that China will continue to defend the rights and interests of Chinese companies.

It’s the latest development in the uneasy relationship between the US and China. Each side wants to look after its own interests, but are mutually dependent – the US because so much of its manufacturing is contracted to China, and China because so much of its income derives from US companies and consumers.

Apple is especially vulnerable, with the vast majority of iPhones made in China, and all of its A-series and M-series chips fabricated by TSMC in Taiwan. There is growing concern that China plans to invade Taiwan by 2027.

Photo by Joshua Sortino on Unsplash