Tourists from 42 countries may soon need to also disclose email accounts, extensive family history and biometrics to enter US.
Visitors who are eligible to enter the United States without a visa may soon be required to provide the Department of Homeland Security with significantly more personal information, including details about their social media activity, email accounts and family background.
According to a notice published on Wednesday in the Federal Register, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is proposing to collect up to five years of social media data from travellers from certain visa-waiver countries.
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The proposed requirement would apply to travellers using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) under the Visa Waiver Program, which allows citizens of 42 countries – including the United Kingdom, Germany, Qatar, Greece, Malta, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Israel and South Korea – to travel to the US for tourism or business for up to 90 days.
Currently, the ESTA automatically screens applicants and grants travel approval without requiring an in-person interview at a US embassy or consulate, unlike standard visa applications.
At present, ESTA applicants are required to provide a more limited set of information, such as their parents’ names, current email address, and details of any past criminal record.
A question asking travellers to disclose their social media information was first added to the ESTA application in 2016, though it has remained optional.
New rules also target metadata, email history
The new notice also states that the CBP plans to request additional personal information from visitors, including telephone numbers used over the past five years and email addresses used over the last 10 years.
Authorities also said they plan to add what they describe as “high-value data fields” to the ESTA application “when feasible”. These would include metadata from electronically submitted photographs, extensive personal details about applicants’ family members, such as their places of birth and telephone numbers used over the past five years, as well as biometric information, including fingerprints, DNA and iris data.
The announcement did not say what the administration was looking for in the social media accounts of visitors or why it was asking for more information.
But the CBP said it was complying with an executive order that US President Donald Trump signed in January that called for more screening of people coming to the US to prevent the entry of possible national security threats.
Travellers from countries that are not part of the Visa Waiver Program system are already required to submit their social media information, a policy that dates back to the first Trump administration. The policy remained during US President Joe Biden’s administration.
The public has 60 days to submit comments on the proposed changes before they are finalised, the notice in the Federal Register states.
