United States of America: Signed Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence including data protection regulation

On 30 October 2023, the President of the United States signed an Executive Order (EO) on Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI). This order sets out measures to enhance the safety and security of AI, protect privacy, uphold equity and civil rights, ensure consumer protection, and encourage innovation and competition. The EO also includes provisions for data protection. Specifically, the EO aims to safeguard privacy and civil liberties in the face of advancing AI technology. It acknowledges that AI can make extracting, re-identifying, linking, inferring, and acting upon sensitive information related to people's identities, locations, habits, and desires easier. The capabilities of AI in these areas increase the risk of personal data exploitation and exposure. To mitigate this risk, the EO aims to ensure that data collection, use, and retention are conducted legally and securely, focusing on reducing privacy and confidentiality risks. Government agencies are instructed to utilise policy and technical tools, including privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs) where applicable, to protect privacy and address broader legal and societal risks arising from improper data collection and use. The Secretary of Commerce is mandated to develop guidelines for federal agencies regarding collecting and using commercially available information. The National Science Foundation and the Secretary of Energy must create within 120 days a fund to enable the development, deployment and creation of new standards for PETs.