It seems like everyone wants to be your online friend, and that now includes the U.S. Customs and Border Protection service. They’ve proposed adding a new section to forms filled out by visitors, asking for their social media connections.
The immigration service wants to add a line to the forms used by visitors entering the U.S. from visa-waiver countries, asking “Please enter information associated with your online presence—Provider/Platform—Social media identifier.”
The information would be used as part of checking whether the applicant has engaged in “nefarious activity and connections.” It would provide “an additional tool set which analysts and investigators may use to better analyze and investigate the case,” according to the official proposal. At least for now, providing the information would be optional.
Some critics have pointed out that the potential for loose talk and online jokes or misunderstandings to trip up innocent travelers is high, especially with the amount of data that could come from 77.5 million overseas visitors a year.
For more information from The Guardian (UK) click HERE
