(a) Definition. The term data brokerage means the sale of data, licensing of access to data, or similar commercial transactions, excluding an employment agreement, investment agreement, or a vendor agreement, involving the transfer of data from any person (the provider) to any other person (the recipient), where the recipient did not collect or process the data directly from the individuals linked or linkable to the collected or processed data.

(b) Examples—(1) Example 1. A U.S. company sells bulk U.S. sensitive personal data to an entity headquartered in a country of concern. The U.S. company engages in prohibited data brokerage.

(2) Example 2. A U.S. company enters into an agreement that gives a covered person a license to access government-related data held by the U.S. company. The U.S. company engages in prohibited data brokerage.

(3) Example 3. A U.S. organization maintains a database of bulk U.S. sensitive personal data and offers annual memberships for a fee that provide members a license to access that data. Providing an annual membership to a covered person that includes a license to access government-related data or bulk U.S. sensitive personal data would constitute prohibited data brokerage.

(4) Example 4. A U.S. company owns and operates a mobile app for U.S. users with available advertising space. As part of selling the advertising space, the U.S. company provides IP addresses and advertising IDs of more than 100,000 U.S. users' devices to an advertising exchange based in a country of concern in a twelve-month period. The U.S. company's provision of this data as part of the sale of advertising space is a covered data transaction involving data brokerage and is a prohibited transaction because IP addresses and advertising IDs are listed identifiers that satisfy the definition of bulk covered personal identifiers in this transaction.

(5) Example 5. Same as Example 4, but the U.S. company provides the data to an advertising exchange based in the United States. As part of the sale of the advertising space, the U.S. advertising exchange provides the data to advertisers headquartered in a country of concern. The U.S. company's provision of the data to the U.S. advertising exchange would not be a transaction because it is between U.S. persons. The advertising exchange's provision of this data to the country of concern-based advertisers is data brokerage because it is a commercial transaction involving the transfer of data from the U.S. advertising exchange to the advertisers headquartered in the country of concern, where those country-of-concern advertisers did not collect or process the data directly from the individuals linked or linkable to the collected or processed data. Furthermore, the U.S. advertising exchange's provision of this data to the country of concern-based advertisers is a prohibited transaction.

(6) Example 6. A U.S. information technology company operates an autonomous driving platform that collects the precise geolocation data of its cars operating in the United States. The U.S. company sells or otherwise licenses this bulk data to its parent company headquartered in a country of concern to help develop artificial intelligence technology and machine learning capabilities. The sale or license is data brokerage and a prohibited transaction.

(7) Example 7. A U.S. company owns or operates a mobile app or website for U.S. users. That mobile app or website contains one or more tracking pixels or software development kits that were knowingly installed or approved for incorporation into the app or website by the U.S. company. The tracking pixels or software development kits transfer or otherwise provide access to government-related data or bulk U.S. sensitive personal data to a country of concern or covered person-owned social media app for targeted advertising. The U.S. company engages in prohibited data brokerage.

(8) Example 8. A non-U.S. company is contracted to develop a mobile app for a U.S. company. In developing the mobile app for that U.S. company, the non-U.S. company knowingly incorporates tracking pixels or software development kits into the mobile app that then transfer or otherwise provide access to government-related data or bulk U.S. sensitive personal data to a country of concern or covered person for targeted advertising, at the request of the U.S. company. The non-U.S. company has caused a violation of the data brokerage prohibition. If the U.S. company knowingly arranged the transfer of such data to the country of concern or covered person by requesting incorporation of the tracking pixels or software development kits, the U.S. company has engaged in prohibited data brokerage.

(9) Example 9. A U.S. researcher shares bulk human `omic data on U.S. persons with a researcher in a country of concern (a covered person) with whom the U.S. researcher is drafting a paper for submission to an academic journal. The two researchers exchange country of concern and bulk U.S. human `omic data over a period of several months to analyze and describe the findings of their research for the journal article. The U.S. person does not provide to or receive from the covered person or the covered person's employer any money or other valuable consideration as part of the authors' study. The U.S. person has not engaged in a covered data transaction involving data brokerage, because the transaction does not involve the sale of data, licensing of access to data, or similar commercial transaction involving the transfer of data to the covered person.

(10) Example 10. A U.S. researcher receives a grant from a university in a country of concern to study. bulk personal health data and bulk human `omic data on U.S. persons. The grant directs the researcher to share the underlying bulk U.S. sensitive personal data with the country of concern university (a covered person). The transaction is a covered data transaction because it involves access by a covered person to bulk U.S. sensitive personal data and is data brokerage because it involves the transfer of bulk U.S. sensitive personal data to a covered person in return for a financial benefit.