Evolving National Interests

The U.S.’s national security interests have evolved this year. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has caused debate among congressional leaders, local authorities, and federal authorities. Many questions have been asked regarding safely opening businesses, traveling, returning to school, producing an effective COVID-19 vaccine, and limiting physical contacts. The upcoming 2020 election has caused an uproar regarding how the U.S. will safely and responsibly hold an election with integrity. Additionally, protests and riots have caused anger and debate regarding policing and enforcing security at the local, state, and federal levels. These unsettling times have caused businesses to close and workers to be unemployed, which has provoked an economic security debate. Congressional leaders have debated stimulus packages, business loans, and additional unemployment benefits for those without work. These recent U.S. interests have now combined with ongoing international interests, which poses a threat to the U.S.’s security and democracy. 

William R. Evanina, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center director, released a statement concerning Russia, Iran, and China interfering in the upcoming election. The report claims Russia and Iran have been spreading disinformation in the U.S. to lower confidence in the U.S.’s democratic process. China has been using its influence to persuade politicians. For example, Chinese diplomats have made masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) donations and have demanded support in return. A Wisconsin state senator was asked to pass a resolution applauding China’s assistance in fighting COVID-19. The senator refused and criticized the Chinese Communist Party.  

 

However, Senator Schumer, Speaker Pelosi, Senator Warner, and Representative Schiff criticized Mr. Evanina’s claims and said his generic statements were meaningless. The congressional leaders also called on the F.B.I to brief Congress on disinformation campaigns. There were classified briefings regarding election interreference.

 

Mick Baccio is Pete Buttigeig’s campaign information security official. His main concerns regarding election interference are the large number of absentee ballots and a potentially prolong counting period. This may cause foreign powers to undermine the votes’ confidence as they are being counted. Federal, state, and local officials have lots to think about and not much time to make decisions regarding the 2020 election.      

TikTok and the National Interest

The US government values data privacy and security for its employees and the American public. Such value makes data security a national interest, and risks to the national interest can be considered threats to national security. 

For the past year, the Trump administration has poked and prodded the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok on its "data privacy practices"--its largest concern being Chinese government access to TikTok user data. For many officials, the national security threat lies in TikTok's, and potentially the Chinese government's, ability to collect data on US citizens--including government employees with access to sensitive information. In response to the risk, President Trump's recent executive orders placed an effective ban on transactions between TikTok and US consumers in the coming weeks and pushed TikTok's parent company ByteDance to sell its US assets in the next 90 days.  The Federal Trade Commission also asserts that TikTok "illegally collected personal information from minors"--this violates the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act as well as the national interest. The presence of disinformation on the app, TikTok's response to disinformation, and concerns of political censorship may be separate issues, but they tie into risk assessment of TikTok as a threat to national security.

ByteDance has tried to distance itself from its Chinese origins and insists that it does not pass its data to the Chinese government, and TikTok received its first American chief executive officer in June of this year. But the risk remains, with further implications for data collection and mobile apps based in other countries. According to Lawfare, the FBI has received letters citing concern of security risks in Russian mobile apps; but where should the US draw the line? Which apps are deemed acceptable, and which are risky enough to warrant a threat to national security? The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) habitually answers a similar question relating to foreign capital and foreign direct investment (FDI) in the US, but this type of data collection more directly concerns data privacy and security of US citizens and the US government--in other words, the national interest.