"The US state department will conduct "online presence" reviews for applicants and their dependents and require privacy settings on social media profiles to be made "public." Applicants must list all the social media handles they've used over the last five years and if any information is omitted, it could lead to the denial of current and future visas. The CBP didn't say what information they were looking for or what could be disqualifying."
"The new conditions are liable to increase ESTA wait times and drastically boost the cost of enforcing it. The CPB's document suggests that an additional 5,598,115 man-hours would be required per year, or around 3,000 full-time jobs plus all the costs that entails. Right now, the ESTA application costs $40, allows people to visit the US for 90 days at a time and is valid for a two-year period."
US Customs and Border Protection proposes requiring Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) applicants to provide five-year social media histories and make profile privacy settings public. Applicants must list all social media handles used over the last five years, and omissions could lead to denial of current and future visas. CBP may also require telephone numbers and email addresses used over the last five and ten years respectively, plus information about family members. The measure cites a January executive order on national security. The proposal would increase ESTA processing time, add about 5.6 million man-hours annually, raise enforcement costs, and could discourage travel.
Read at Engadget
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