International travelers heading to the U.S. may soon have to provide five years of social media history to enter the country, following a proposal from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The proposal filed in the Federal Register on Wednesday would require travelers to submit the online information when filling out an Electronic System for Travel Authorization application. This applies to travelers from visa waiver program countries who plan to stay in the U.S. for up to 90 days, including those from the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Greece, Japan and Australia.
Additionally, the proposal would add “high-value data fields” to the ESTA application, including any email addresses used in the last 10 years, telephone numbers used in the past five years and information on travelers’ family members (and their phone numbers). Travelers would also be required to include the IP addresses and metadata of any photos submitted electronically, along with biometric information, including from their face, fingerprints, iris or DNA.
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