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US Customs Wants To Know Travelers' Social Media Account Names (helpnetsecurity.com)
Orome1 quotes a report from Help Net Security: The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has submitted a request to the Office of Management and Budget, asking for permission to collect travelers social media account names as they enter the country. The CBP, which is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, proposes that the request "Please enter information associated with your online presence -- Provider/Platform -- Social media identifier" be added to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) and to the CBP Form I-94W (Nonimmigrant Visa Waiver Arrival/Departure). "It will be an optional field to request social media identifiers to be used for vetting purposes, as well as applicant contact information," the CBP noted. "Collecting social media data will enhance the existing investigative process and provide DHS greater clarity and visibility to possible nefarious activity and connections by providing an additional tool set which analysts and investigators may use to better analyze and investigate the case." The public and affected agencies are asked to comment on the request within 60 days of its publication. Commenters are asked to send their comments to this address.
Especially when a Slashdot type person goes "don't have one, don't need one, don't want one". Then you end up in the little room as a suspicious person.
As a foreigner who lives outside of china and USA it is far easier to travel around China now than the USA. Also the chances of getting shot at while taking in the views are next to zero in china compared to the USA.
...extremists are busy creating new FB accounts and smothering them with cat pics and lolz.
Any real terrorist cell with two brain cells to put together will have a well maintained perfectly clean set of social media accounts. All I see is a huge jobs program requiring more CPB "investigators" to vet all this bullshit.
I mean, just pull us all into the back room and start the waterboarding already.
They don't learn, do they? L'il Bobby Tables & friends it is then. They're probably running some version of Oracle on the backend, so keep that in mind while you are registering your new completely legitimate social media account names expressly for this use.
Thai Immigration is beginning to request the same information of foreigners entering or staying in the country. Thailand is under military junta at the moment.
I am living in Thailand on a Non - Immigrant retirement visa and had thought I might leave, in part, due to this invasion of privacy. But I see the US junta has the same aspirations.
If you care little enough about privacy to be on "social media" why would you care?
Time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
The American Security Theater Administration (or whatever their real name is) already asks people going into the US idiotic questions - I've been asked for the address of my hotel, address and phone numbers of my relative in the US (why?), the address of the university I finished 20 years ago (why, you want to send them mail?), and a lot of other crap. Clearly, I could invent random responses and the interviewer would not know any better. I could also claim I didn't have or didn't know an answer. But do you know anybody who, after spending thousands of dollars on a vacation, would risk it all just to spite the security interviewer? So everybody (except the actual terrorists, of course) just tells these guys the truth. And hates the American culture just a little bit more :-(
And in the next iteration, account names will be mandatory, together with the passwords for them (verified on the spot by your friendly customs people) and the PINs for your banking cards?
The PSA (Paranoid States of America) still shit their pants because of one terrorist incident a decade ago, while local yokels with guns (including the police) kill ten times that much people per year.
This is a request from a bureaucrat for permission. There's 60 days for the public to weigh in. If you don't like it, instead of bitching on /., call your congressman/submit an opinion through the proper channels.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
Yes, it's very sad. Last time I went was 1989, I'm 65, a Londoner and not planning on going again. Mid 80's I went out with someone from Oregon and was made very welcome, they enjoyed my strange accent too. New York too, immediately you arrive you feel that you drank about five cups of strong coffee (though I guess New Yorkers are immune?).
I don't think the people have changed that much and, very often, they are lovely. But the government etc. seems to have.
On y va, qui mal y pense!
Google created google+ accounts for every gmail user. People laughed at its pathetic attempt to ape facebook. Now who's laughing? Google was actually doing all gmail users a favor. There will be an useless google+ account that no one bothers to look at, but will qualify as the social media account for the purpose of filling out some damned form to TSA!
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
I'm known as "EatShitTSA" on most social networks....
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.