Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has established a specialized task force to specifically examine data collection practices within American businesses and their potential connections to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Announced at a press conference on Thursday, Uthmeier revealed that existing resources within the Attorney General’s office will be reallocated to create this new department. This marks the first state-level dedicated task force in the United States to investigate corporate data collection and sharing behaviors.
Named the “Consumer Harm from International Nefarious Actors Prevention Unit” (CHINA Prevention Unit) for short, this specialized entity will scrutinize companies within various industries in Florida that are believed to be sharing sensitive information with the CCP.
The healthcare technology sector is singled out for scrutiny due to the access these companies have to highly confidential personal data of American patients.
“We will be sending letters today to a large number of medical technology companies that we believe have issues. Asking them to provide information on how they are complying with Florida laws on data privacy and consumer protection,” Uthmeier stated at the briefing in West Palm Beach.
Florida has already initiated investigations into medical companies, including the Chinese medical device manufacturer Contec. Concerns have been raised that monitoring data of American patients could be transmitted and stored through servers located in China owned by the company.
As part of consumer protection efforts, Uthmeier’s office has issued subpoenas to several companies in other industries over the past six months. Targets include TP-Link, a router manufacturer founded in China, and Lorex, a company producing security cameras such as video doorbells and baby monitors.
The establishment of this dedicated unit has been praised by Kelley Currie, a retired U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues with decades of experience in U.S. foreign policy. She commended the decision as a proactive step towards addressing threats and implementing deterrence.
“This decision is the first of its kind in the United States, where you will have a dedicated department to protect Floridians as well as those who reside, work, and do business in the state from these threats,” Currie stated at the press conference.
Currie, also a member of the State Armor advisory committee, expressed hope that Florida’s actions would inspire other states to take similar measures.
In a post on platform X later on the same day, Uthmeier shared a letter addressed to Mindray North America, a hospital equipment supplier. The letter requested an internal audit and disclosure of any potential connections this China-based company may have with the CCP.
Highlighting concerns about laws designated by the CCP regime, particularly the 2017 National Intelligence Law, which mandates Chinese companies to support and cooperate with the regime’s intelligence agencies, Uthmeier underscored the potential risks of creating a permeant “backdoor” allowing foreign adversaries access to sensitive information from any Chinese firm.
“Whether through medical technology, telecommunications, or digital platforms, the risk of data leaks poses a direct threat to our sovereignty. Florida will not allow its residents to be monitored or manipulated by hostile actors under the guise of routine business operations,” the letter stated.
Contacted for comment by The Epoch Times, Mindray North America had not responded at the time of publication.