IB 
Union Calendar No. 43 
118TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1153 
[Report No. 118–63] 
To provide a clarification of non-applicability for regulation and prohibition 
relating to sensitive personal data under the International Emergency 
Economic Powers Act, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 24, 2023 
Mr. MCCAUL introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs 
MAY 16, 2023 
Additional sponsor: Mr. SMITH of New Jersey 
MAY 16, 2023 
Reported from the Committee on Foreign Affairs; committed to the Com-
mittee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be 
printed 
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A BILL 
To provide a clarification of non-applicability for regulation 
and prohibition relating to sensitive personal data under 
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, and 
for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE AND TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Deterring America’s Technological Adversaries Act’’ or 
‘‘DATA Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title and table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Findings. 
Sec. 3. Authorization of appropriations. 
Sec. 4. Severability. 
Sec. 5. Definitions. 
TITLE I—CLARIFICATION OF NON-APPLICABILITY FOR REGULA-
TION AND PROHIBITION RELATING TO SENSITIVE PERSONAL 
DATA UNDER INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POW-
ERS ACT 
Sec. 101. Clarification. 
Sec. 102. Directive. 
TITLE II—IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS ON CERTAIN TRANS-
ACTIONS RELATING TO CONNECTED SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS 
Sec. 201. Imposition of sanctions. 
Sec. 202. Sanction described. 
Sec. 203. Sunset. 
TITLE III—SPECIFIC DETERMINATIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE 
IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS 
Sec. 301. Determination relating to Bytedance, Ltd., TikTok, and related enti-
ties. 
Sec. 302. Requests by appropriate congressional committees. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) On December 2, 2022, the Director of the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Christopher Wray, 
stated, ‘‘We . . . do have national security concerns 
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about the app [TikTok]. Its parent company is con-
trolled by the Chinese government. And it gives 
them the potential to leverage the app in ways that 
I think should concern us . . . One, it gives them 
the ability to control the recommendation algorithm 
which allows them to manipulate content and if they 
want to, to use it for influence operations which are 
a lot more worrisome in the hands of the Chinese 
Communist Party than whether or not you’re steer-
ing somebody as an influencer to one product or an-
other. They also have the ability to collect data 
through it on users which can be used for traditional 
espionage operations, for example. They also have 
the ability on it to get access, they have essentially 
access to the software to devices. So you’re talking 
about millions of devices and that gives them the 
ability to engage in different kinds of malicious 
cyber activity through that. And so all of these 
things are in the hands of a government that doesn’t 
share our values and that has a mission that’s very 
much at odds with what’s in the best interest of the 
United States that that should concern us.’’. 
(2) On December 3, 2022, the Director of Na-
tional Intelligence, Avril Haines, ‘‘It is extraordinary 
the degree to which China, in particular, but they’re 
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not the only ones, obviously, are developing just 
frameworks for collecting foreign data and pulling it 
in and their capacity to then turn that around and 
use it to target audiences for information campaigns 
or for other things, but also to have it for the future 
so that they can use it for a variety of means that 
they’re interested in.’’. 
(3) On December 16, 2022, the Director of 
Central Intelligence, Bill Burns, stated, ‘‘I think it’s 
a genuine concern . . . for the U.S. government, in 
the sense that, because the parent company of 
TikTok is a Chinese company, the Chinese govern-
ment is able to insist upon extracting the private 
data of a lot of TikTok users in this country, and 
also to shape the content of what goes on to TikTok 
as well to suit the interests of the Chinese leadership 
. . . What I would underscore, though, is that it’s 
genuinely troubling to see what the Chinese govern-
ment could do to manipulate TikTok.’’. 
(4) On December 23, 2022, both chambers of 
Congress passed a bipartisan spending bill that in-
cluded a ban on using TikTok from government de-
vices. 
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SEC. 3. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
No additional amounts are authorized to be made 
available to carry out this Act. 
SEC. 4. SEVERABILITY. 
If any provision of this Act or its application to any 
person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does 
not affect other provisions or applications of this section 
that can be given effect without the invalid provision or 
application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are 
severable. 
SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) AGENCY OR INSTRUMENTALITY OF A FOR-
EIGN STATE.—The term ‘‘agency or instrumentality 
of a foreign state’’ has the meaning given such term 
under section 1603(b) of title 28, United States 
Code. 
(2) APPROPRIATE
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com-
mittees’’ means— 
(A) the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 
Committee on Ways and Means, and the Com-
mittee on Financial Services of the House of 
Representatives; and 
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(B) the Committee on Foreign Relations 
and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs of the Senate. 
(3) CHINA.—The term ‘‘China’’ means— 
(A) when used in the geographic sense, the 
country of the People’s Republic of China; and 
(B) otherwise, the Government of the 
country of the People’s Republic of China, in-
cluding any entity acting on behalf of, or the 
benefit of— 
(i) the country of the People’s Repub-
lic of China; or 
(ii) the Government of the country of 
the People’s Republic of China. 
(4) CONNECTED
SOFTWARE
APPLICATION.— 
The term ‘‘connected software application’’ has the 
meaning given such term in Executive Order 14034 
(86 Fed. Reg. 31423; relating to protecting Ameri-
cans’ sensitive data from foreign adversaries). 
(5) ELECTION INTERFERENCE IN OR AGAINST A 
FOREIGN COUNTRY THAT IS A TREATY ALLY OF THE 
UNITED STATES OR A DEMOCRATIC OR EMERGING 
DEMOCRATIC PARTNER OF THE UNITED STATES.— 
The term ‘‘election interference in or against a for-
eign country that is a treaty ally of the United 
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(B) deny access, block, degrade, or alter 
election and campaign infrastructure, or related 
systems or data related to political parties, can-
didates in elections for public office, the admin-
istration of elections for public office, or any 
public election activity; or 
(C) consist of the making of contributions 
or donations, or any other activity prohibited 
under section 319 of the Federal Election Cam-
paign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30121), with the 
purpose or effect of undermining election proc-
esses or institutions. 
(7) FOREIGN PERSON.—The term ‘‘foreign per-
son’’— 
(A) means a person that is not a United 
States person; and 
(B) includes a nonresident alien individual, 
foreign corporation, foreign partnership, foreign 
trust, foreign estate. 
(8) KNOWINGLY.—The term ‘‘knowingly’’, with 
respect to conduct, a circumstance, or a result, 
means that a person has actual knowledge, or should 
have known, of the conduct, the circumstance, or the 
result. 
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(9) SENSITIVE
PERSONAL
DATA.—The term 
‘‘sensitive personal data’’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 7.2 of title 15, Code of Federal 
Regulations (or any successor regulation). 
(10) TREATY ALLY OF THE UNITED STATES.— 
The term ‘‘treaty ally of the United States’’ means 
a foreign country that is a party to any of the fol-
lowing: 
(A) The North Atlantic Treaty, signed at 
Washington, April 4, 1949. 
(B) The Security Treaty Between Aus-
tralia, New Zealand, and the United States of 
America, signed at San Francisco, September 
1, 1951. 
(C) The Mutual Defense Treaty Between 
the United States of America and the Republic 
of the Philippines, signed at Washington, Au-
gust 30, 1951. 
(D) The Southeast Asia Collective Defense 
Treaty, signed at Manilla, September 8, 1954. 
(E) The Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and 
Security Between the United States of America 
and Japan, signed at Washington, January 19, 
1960. 
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(F) The Mutual Defense Treaty Between 
the United States of America and the Republic 
of Korea, signed at Washington, October 1, 
1953. 
(11) UNITED
STATES
PERSON.—The term 
‘‘United States person’’ means— 
(A) a United States citizen; 
(B) a permanent resident alien; 
(C) an entity organized under the laws of 
the United States (including foreign branches); 
or 
(D) any person in the United States. 
TITLE 
I—CLARIFICATION 
OF 
NON-APPLICABILITY 
FOR 
REGULATION AND PROHIBI-
TION 
RELATING 
TO 
SEN-
SITIVE 
PERSONAL 
DATA 
UNDER 
INTERNATIONAL 
EMERGENCY ECONOMIC POW-
ERS ACT 
SEC. 101. CLARIFICATION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The importation to a country, or 
the exportation from a country, of sensitive personal data 
shall not constitute the importation from a country, or the 
exportation to a country, of information or informational 
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materials for purposes of paragraph (1) or (3) of section 
203(b) of the International Emergency Economic Powers 
Act (50 U.S.C. 1702(b)). 
(b) RULE
OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in sub-
section (a), and nothing in the International Emergency 
Economic Powers Act, may be construed to provide for 
the application of paragraph (1) or (3) of section 203(b) 
of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 
U.S.C. 1702(b)) to the importation to China, or the expor-
tation from China, directly or indirectly, of sensitive per-
sonal data. 
SEC. 102. DIRECTIVE. 
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury shall issue 
a directive prohibiting United States persons from engag-
ing in any transaction with a person that the Secretary 
of the Treasury determines knowingly provides or may 
transfer sensitive personal data of persons subject to 
United States jurisdiction to any foreign person that— 
(1) is subject to the jurisdiction or direction of, 
or directly or indirectly operating on behalf of, 
China; or 
(2) is owned by, directly or indirectly controlled 
by, or is otherwise subject to the influence of China. 
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TITLE II—IMPOSITION OF SANC-
TIONS ON CERTAIN TRANS-
ACTIONS RELATING TO CON-
NECTED SOFTWARE APPLICA-
TIONS 
SEC. 201. IMPOSITION OF SANCTIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The President shall impose the 
sanction described in section 202 with respect to any for-
eign person that, on or after the date of the enactment 
of this Act, knowingly— 
(1) operates, directs, or otherwise deals in a 
connected software application that— 
(A) is subject to the jurisdiction or direc-
tion of, or directly or indirectly operating on be-
half of China, or is owned by, directly or indi-
rectly controlled by, or otherwise subject to the 
influence of China; and 
(B) is reasonable believed to have facili-
tated or may be facilitating or contributing to 
China’s— 
(i) military, intelligence, espionage, or 
weapons proliferation activities; 
(ii) censorship activities; 
(iii) surveillance activities; 
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(iv) control or use of recommendation 
algorithms that are capable of manipu-
lating content; 
(v) malicious cyber activities; or 
(vi) use of data to target audiences 
for information campaigns; 
(2) directly or indirectly orders, controls, di-
rects, engages in, or otherwise facilitates an act of 
election interference against the United States; 
(3) directly or indirectly orders, controls, di-
rects, engages in, or otherwise facilitates an act of 
election interference in or against a foreign country 
that is— 
(A) a treaty ally of the United States; or 
(B) a democratic or emerging democratic 
partner of the United States; 
(4) directly or indirectly orders, controls, di-
rects, engages in, or otherwise facilitates an act of 
steering United States policy and regulatory deci-
sions in favor of China’s strategic objectives, to the 
detriment of the economic or national security of the 
United States; 
(5) knowingly facilitates a transaction or trans-
actions for or on behalf of a person described, or a 
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