Sen. Sue Rezin urges Congress to take security measures beyond possible TikTok ban

Illinois Senate Minority Deputy Leader Sue Rezin, R-Morris, is urging Congress to take further action to protect every American’s personal information as the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill that would lead to a nationwide ban of the video app TikTok if its China-based owner doesn’t sell, acting on concerns that the company’s ownership structure is a national security threat.

Rezin is calling upon Congress to enact national legislation similar to the Privacy Rights Act she has filed in the Illinois Senate. Under the act, a person has the right to know what data is being collected and who it is being sold to or shared with.

That individual also can request corrections and deletion of the data, as well as have the ability to opt out of the sharing and selling of their data, Rezin said in a news release.

The goal is to be able to use the services without fear of retaliation from the companies, Rezin said.

“While there is no question there is a need to protect Americans’ sensitive personal information from bad foreign actors, we must not forget that every single day vast amounts of sensitive data is being collected and sold with very little oversight right here at home,” Rezin said in the release Wednesday. “While the dangerous and negative implications of collecting and sharing sensitive information may not be readily understood by everyone, it’s crucial that we empower individuals with the right to safeguard their privacy.”

Rezin said that California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia have implemented their own versions of comprehensive state-level data privacy laws, and other states are reviewing their own proposals. Additionally, the European Union implemented several privacy data laws and regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Act.

“This isn’t about protecting data; it’s about protecting people and their right to privacy,” Rezin said. “Our job as elected representatives is to anticipate potential threats in order to protect the people we serve. That duty has now gone beyond just the physical world of our communities but now encompasses the digital world as well.”

What Congress did Wednesday is pass a bill by a vote of 352-65 that now goes to the Senate.

TikTok, which has more than 150 million American users, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd.

Lawmakers contend that ByteDance is beholden to the Chinese government, which could demand access to the data of TikTok’s consumers in the U.S. anytime it wants, according to a report by The Associated Press.

The worry stems from a set of Chinese national security laws that compel organizations to assist with intelligence gathering, according to The AP. The Senate also would need to pass the measure for it to become law, and lawmakers in that chamber indicated it would undergo a thorough review, The AP reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.