Amid fears the Chinese Communist Party’s digital payment system could allow CHina to spy on Americans, Republican Senators want to bar U.S. app stores including Apple’s App Store and Alphabet’s Google Play store from hosting apps that allow payments to be made with China’s digital currency, according to a copy of proposed legislation seen by Reuters.
The bill to be unveiled on Thursday by Senators Tom Cotton, Marco Rubio and Mike Braun states that companies that own or control app stores “shall not carry or support any app in [their] app store(s) within the United States that supports or enables transactions in e-CNY”.
According to Cotton’s office, digital yuan could provide the Chinese government with “real-time visibility into all transactions on the network, posing privacy and security concerns for American persons who join this network.”
The Center for a New American Security, a Washington D.C. based think tank, said in a January 2021 report that China’s digital currency and electronic payments system was “likely to be a boon for CCP surveillance in the economy and for government interference in the lives of Chinese citizens,” noting that “transactions will contain precise data about users and their financial activity.”
MacDailyNews Take: Passage of such a bill would likely have at least some bipartisan support, but likely not happen until after the 2022 U.S. midterm elections this November and the 118th United States Congress convenes starting on January 3, 2023.
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No brainer common sense legislation both parties should support and pass immediately to preempt potential problems…