Much like the Greeks delivering a Trojan horse to the people of Troy, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is employing new technologies to manipulate Americans and infiltrate our country.
In the coming decade, every American will have their sensitive, private data stored using a relatively new technology – blockchain. This innovation is also a realm in which China is heavily investing, presenting a monumental national security and data privacy challenge.
Failure to address this issue now could lead to a disaster 1,000 times worse than China’s control of TikTok.
The problem with TikTok is well-known: under Chinese law, its owners are mandated to cooperate with Chinese national intelligence efforts, essentially providing carte blanche to Chinese spy agencies.
Handing over our most sensitive data to the Chinese government willingly is a colossal mistake, especially given their track record of manipulation and endangering our national security.
This isn’t the CCP’s initial foray into capturing American data through digital infrastructure. In 2013, Huawei Telecommunications tried to enter the U.S. market, targeting telecommunication, cloud computing, and data capture. Congress swiftly acted with bipartisan legislation to ban Huawei, signaling to Beijing that surveillance efforts would not be tolerated. Congress is sending a similar message now as it seeks to curtail China’s influence via TikTok.
Beijing’s ambitions persist today. Though the technology has evolved, the CCP’s goal remains the same: control over American information.
This new challenge is particularly alarming. We’re on the brink of granting access to Social Security numbers, passwords, credit card details, and America’s entire digital identity by storing it on blockchain.
Blockchain, heralded for its association with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, is set to revolutionize data privacy with widespread adoption across cloud platforms in the next decade.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has emphasized seizing the opportunities presented by blockchain technology, evident in China’s development of the Blockchain Service Network (BSN). Launched in 2019, BSN is integral to the CCP’s digital strategy, extending beyond technology.
Given the implications for national security, legislative action is imperative. The bipartisan CLARITY Act aims to create a firewall between the federal government and Chinese-owned blockchain companies, preventing access to critical intelligence and private information.
It’s paramount for the federal government to address this threat urgently and respond cohesively to safeguard against vulnerabilities.
We cannot allow the Chinese government to exploit blockchain technology as a modern-day Trojan horse, compromising our systems and manipulating our most sensitive data.
