Contact Congress about H.R. 7520: Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024
Data brokers would have to stop giving certain foreign adversaries sensitive personal data about people in the United States. The FTC would enforce the ban under its existing consumer protection powers. The rule would take effect 60 days after the bill becomes law.
Modern Action explains legislation in plain English, helps you choose whether to support, oppose, or ask for changes, and drafts a message tied to the bill, your stance, and the elected officials who can act on it.
Protecting Americans’ Data from Foreign Adversaries Act of 2024 is a House bill in Congress.
Who this affects: This bill mainly affects data brokers first, because they would have to stop certain sales and check who their buyers really are. It also affects people living in the United States whose sensitive data could be sold, and foreign-linked companies that want to buy that data. The FTC would also have to decide how aggressively to enforce the new rule.
Why this matters: Right now, sensitive data about people in the United States can be bought and sold in commercial data markets. This bill would cut off one path for foreign adversaries to get that data. That could matter for tracking, profiling, or other harmful uses of health, location, financial, or private communication data. At the same time, the bill does not broadly stop data brokers from selling sensitive data to many other buyers, so its privacy reach is limited.
Key provisions in H.R. 7520
- Data brokers could not give covered sensitive data about a person in the United States to a foreign adversary or a business it controls. The ban covers selling, licensing, renting, trading, transferring, releasing, disclosing, or giving access to the data.
- Breaking this rule would count as an unfair or deceptive practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act. That means the FTC could investigate, enforce the law, and seek the penalties already allowed under that law.
- A data broker means a business that sells or shares data about people in the United States that it did not get directly from them. It does not count if the other company is only handling the data as a service provider.
- Some businesses are not treated as data brokers under this bill. That includes companies mainly sending data at a user's request, products where sensitive data is not the product, news or public-interest publishers, some publishers of already public information, and service providers.
- The bill uses an existing federal law, 10 U.S.C. 4872(d)(2), to decide which countries count as foreign adversary countries. So this bill's reach depends on that outside list.
How Modern Action helps you take action on H.R. 7520
You do not have to start with a blank letter. Modern Action turns the bill, your position, and the relevant congressional context into a message you can edit and send. The goal is to make contacting Congress clear, specific, and useful without forcing you to parse bill text or figure out the right office on your own.
Questions people ask about H.R. 7520
- What is H.R. 7520?
- Data brokers would have to stop giving certain foreign adversaries sensitive personal data about people in the United States. The FTC would enforce the ban under its existing consumer protection powers. The rule would take effect 60 days after the bill becomes law.
- How do I support or oppose H.R. 7520?
- Choose support, oppose, or ask for changes on Modern Action. The action flow drafts the message for you and keeps the wording tied to this bill.
- Who should I contact about H.R. 7520?
- Modern Action uses your location to route the action to the congressional offices relevant to the bill and your representation.
- Can Modern Action explain H.R. 7520 before I act?
- Yes. Modern Action gives you a plain-English summary, current status, and action context before you send anything.
