Entering the U.S. will be more complicated than ever. Specialists from the IICS cybersecurity training reported that the U.S. State Department will request those who wish to enter the country for their social media profiles, email addresses and phone numbers used for the last five years.
This decision will impact about 15 million
people who apply for a visa to enter the U.S. every year. The submission of
this form applies to anyone seeking residency, entry to an academic institution
in the U.S., work or tourist visa.
“This new policy will strengthen the applicants’
approve process, as it helps us verify their identity in a reliable way”,
the department mentions.
On the form, applicants must specify whether
they are users of one of the most popular social networking platforms, such as Facebook,
Twitter or Instagram;
they should also specify if they use any other similar platform of lesser
popularity, report the experts of the cybersecurity training.
Another of the additional measures is to ask
applicants if they have ever been involved in terrorist activities, as well as
to check family background.
A State Department official mentioned that
there would be “serious consequences” for applicants who are
surprised lying to U.S. immigration authorities, such as application reject or
permanent withdrawal of their visa. According to the cybersecurity training
experts, in the past these measures were only applicable to individuals linked
to terrorist groups.
“We keep working to improve our policies
of entry into American territory to ensure the safety of U.S. citizens while
supporting tourists and applicants for residency”, the State Department
mentioned.
Information privacy experts consider detailing
a profile of each applicant to enter the U.S. is an understandable policy,
although before there must be the necessary mechanisms to ensure that this
personal information is protected and operated appropriately or, failing that,
implement an effective data deletion policy.
However, according to experts from the
International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS), U.S. immigration authorities
have demonstrated their inability to adequately protect information from people
trying to enter the country, exposing these data to malicious users.
