"On 10 December, 2025, the United States government announced that visitors wishing to enter America from any of the 42 visa waiver programme countries would have to undergo social media vetting. Visitors would also be required to disclose personal information about close family members. The notice was created by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Customs and Border Protection (CBP)."
"The announcement also stated the intention to add "high-value data fields" to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) application. This additional information includes, for example, both personal and business telephone numbers used in the past five years; email addresses used in the past 10 years; IP addresses and metadata from electronically submitted photos; a variety of information on family members (such as names, residencies and phone numbers) and a range of biometrics (including face, fingerprint, DNA and iris)."
On 10 December 2025 the U.S. required visitors from 42 visa waiver countries to undergo social media vetting and to disclose close-family personal information. The notice was issued by DHS and CBP and approved by OMB via an emergency clearance citing an unspecified "unanticipated event" and asserting that the normal PRA process could cause public harm. The ESTA application will expand to include high-value data fields such as telephone numbers (personal and business, past five years), email addresses (past ten years), IP addresses, photo metadata, family names/residencies/phones, and biometrics including face, fingerprint, DNA, and iris. The updates implement Executive Order 14161 aimed at protecting against terrorists, national security threats, hateful ideology, and immigration exploitation.
Read at ComputerWeekly.com
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