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'Social Media ID, Please?' Proposed US Law Greeted With Anger (computerworld.com)

The U.S. government announced plans to require some foreign travelers to provide their social media account names when entering the country -- and in June requested comments. Now the plan is being called "ludicrous," an "all-around bad idea," "blatant overreach," "desperate, paranoid heavy-handedness," "preposterous," "appalling," and "un-American," reports Slashdot reader dcblogs: That's just a sampling of the outrage. Some 800 responded to the U.S. request for comments about a proposed rule affecting people traveling from "visa waiver" countries to the U.S., where a visa is not required. This includes most of Europe, Singapore, Chile, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand... In a little twist of irony, some critics said U.S. President Obama's proposal for foreign travelers is so bad, it must have been hatched by Donald Trump.
"Travelers will be asked to provide their Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+, and whatever other social ID you can imagine to U.S. authorities," reports Computer World. "It's technically an 'optional' request, but since it's the government asking, critics believe travelers will fear consequences if they ignore it..."

220 comments

  1. The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Do they really think that if some ISIS guy flies in, he's going to fill out the customs form honestly and say "Yep, my Twitter handle is @jihad4lyfe!" It's preposterous to think this would be effective at gathering any sort of reasonable intelligence.

    1. Re:The whole idea is stupid by MrLint · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sounds like another "Common Sense" government 'list'!

    2. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Copid · · Score: 2

      I'm actually not sure about this. There seem to be a lot of people who are more than happy to post about their crimes and questionable affiliations on their social media accounts, even when they should be pretty sure the police will be looking for them. It certainly won't catch sophisticated terrorists, but it seems like it would probably catch a lot of problem cases since a high percentage of problem cases really are total idiots.

      That doesn't make it any less horrifying. Remember back when employers were demanding that people hand over their facebook credentials? Good times.

      --
      An interesting anagram of "BANACH TARSKI" is "BANACH TARSKI BANACH TARSKI"
    3. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Do they really think that if some ISIS guy flies in, he's going to fill out the customs form honestly and say "Yep, my Twitter handle is @jihad4lyfe!"

      They probably don't think that. They're dumb, but usually not quite that dumb.

      The real reason is it's a small step from being optional, to being required because terrorism / the children / murrica. Once it is required, then it establishes guaranteed guilt. If you do something else they don't like, you are by definition guilty of some other unrelated thing. "Mr Coward, it appears that you failed to disclose your 1998 GeoCities account to us on form 390124/b-52. Please come with us. We'd like to ask you some questions."

    4. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm actually not sure about this. There seem to be a lot of people who are more than happy to post about their crimes and questionable affiliations on their social media accounts, even when they should be pretty sure the police will be looking for them. It certainly won't catch sophisticated terrorists, but it seems like it would probably catch a lot of problem cases since a high percentage of problem cases really are total idiots.

      Wow. Nowadays "sophisticated terrorists" are the kind that check "No" to answer "Have you ever been or are you now involved in /.../ terrorist activities?" on their immigration form?
      Well that's something positive about the global dumbing-down of the populace.

    5. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/08/27/teen-sought-by-police-asks-news-to-use-better-mugshot-on-facebook/

    6. Re: The whole idea is stupid by y86 · · Score: 2

      Anyone who blows themselves up to kill children isn't very sophisticated.

    7. Re:The whole idea is stupid by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They are not interested in looking at your posts. They are interested in looking at who your friends and connections are.

    8. Re:The whole idea is stupid by jrumney · · Score: 1

      If they are that dumb, the current immigration forms already have a tick box that will identify them.

    9. Re: The whole idea is stupid by SirSlud · · Score: 1, Insightful

      That's just not true.

      --
      "Old man yells at systemd"
    10. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's right up there with "did you pack your luggage"?

      Of course not, you unwashed infidel pig - the Prophet Muhammud (PBUH) packed my bags

    11. Re:The whole idea is stupid by HiThere · · Score: 1

      And that would be quite annoying for me, because I don't have accounts on any of those services. Slashdot, yes, and a few other similar sites, but not "social media sites".

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    12. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      haha. joke's on them - i don't HAVE any friends! ... oh. right.

      damn.

    13. Re: The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would that be annoying? When they ask you simply state you have no social media accounts and insist that they check. It's easy to "Google" a name or check Facebook. I have no social media accounts so they can go and f#@$ off.

    14. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe they are looking to pile on charges like our lazy-ass prosecutors who become offended if actually asked to *gasp* prove their guilt in court. So they can get them for lying for not incriminating themselves or something stupid like that.

    15. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Archfeld · · Score: 1

      WWMD - What would Muhammad do ? Isn't odd that the letters WMD appear in that ?

      *ducks

      --
      errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
    16. Re: The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Anyone who blows themselves up to kill children isn't very sophisticated.

      Maybe not, but it would seem they are easily trained.

    17. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're right, he's not going to hand it over. And since there are so many others that are willing to give it up and more, who do you think America will choose?

    18. Re:The whole idea is stupid by afxgrin · · Score: 1

      Hey if it improved my application for a work permit I'd have no problem sharing my professional account profiles, like my LinkedIn account. If I had a personal website that I maintained as my CV and hobbies I'd totally provide that - particularly in the case if I had a very common name (I personally don't) and needed to distinguish myself from the bajillion other Mohammed/Muhammed/Mohamed. I'd especially do it if I knew it would expedite the application process. Nothing to hide, etc etc

    19. Re:The whole idea is stupid by chmod+a+x+mojo · · Score: 1

      Just standard government retardation.

      Much like hazmat endorsements now for truck drivers - get fingerprinted by the FBI and background checks ETC.... because apparently if a terrorist wanted to use a truck full of nasty shit in a plot they would get fully licensed, rather than just steal the damn truck.

      Completely and utterly useless? Does absolutely nothing for what it was intended to do? That's how the government is going to do it!

      --
      To err is human; effective mayhem requires the root password!
    20. Re:The whole idea is stupid by GNious · · Score: 1

      Should be easy to determine...
      Upon entry into the US, papers (notably I-94W) require(s/d) that you mark specific checkboxes if you're a WW2 Nazi criminal, if you've have or plan to kidnap kids, If you're a terrorist, if you're sick or a drug-user.
      Now review how many ticked off that they are coming to the US to conduct terror, or to kidnap kids, and hold it up against the number of people caught coming to the US for the same reason.... this gives you a basis for how efficient this type of approach is.

    21. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow. Nowadays "sophisticated terrorists" are the kind that check "No" to answer "Have you ever been or are you now involved in /.../ terrorist activities?" on their immigration form?

      I guess that makes me a "sophisticated farmer" then? Yeah. I lied. I have walked on a field.

    22. Re:The whole idea is stupid by jmcvetta · · Score: 1

      I don't have accounts on any of those services.

      I imagine that all by itself would make you a "person of interest".

    23. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 2

      Three are actually some good reasons for providing a real ID and paper trail for hazmat truck drivers. Hamat disposal has often been simply _discarded_, dumped in open sewer drains or in inappropriate landfill, or dumped out at sea. The results have included medical refuse washing up on beaches and mercury in water supplies. Other hazmat materials have crashed and _leaked_ in residential areas where they were legally forbidden from travel. A basic ID and criminal check for handling such materials may exist for anti-terrorism reasons, but it has sensible use to prevent truck drivers who've been convicted of mishandling hazardous material in one state from being re-employed in another state.

      Because of the money involved, and the opportunity to increase profits by cutting corners, hazmat _needs_ to be carefully regulated. Even if it's promoted for "security theater" reasons, it's a field where safety and verifying the source and delivery of material is important to commerce and safety.

    24. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Cinnamon+Beige · · Score: 1

      I know in some areas at least the hazmat endorsements also mean that you know what you're doing--as in, you can tell if your truck got properly loaded and marked before you pull out, and you know what the risks are for what you're doing.

      I'm not sure what actual benefit there is for people entering a country to share their social media accounts. It's bad security theater--especially since you'll get dummy accounts from the people it might be useful with and in general be sending an implicit but quite clear message that if you're from the 3rd world you better be from its privileged elites.

    25. Re: The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "We checked on your claim that you have no social media accounts. Please come with us, Mr. Smith, we'd like to ask you a few questions."

    26. Re: The whole idea is stupid by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

      That's just not true.

      Ok, I'll bite. Why do you think that?

    27. Re: The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > It's easy to "Google" a name or check Facebook.

      Yes, because terrorists will create their accounts with the exact name and date of birth that they have on their passport, just like everyone else does.

    28. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, but if we can prove you lied about it that gives the FBI cause to go after you BEFORE you blow up a school bus.

    29. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Carewolf · · Score: 2

      Do they really think that if some ISIS guy flies in, he's going to fill out the customs form honestly and say "Yep, my Twitter handle is @jihad4lyfe!" It's preposterous to think this would be effective at gathering any sort of reasonable intelligence.

      Some of the current questions you have to answer and they apparently expect people to answer truthfully are:
      Are you are terrorist: [Yes] [No]
      Do you plan to detonate any bombs while visiting the US: [Yes] [No]
      Have you ever commited a crime: [Yes] [No]
      Are you planning to commit a crime while visting the US [Yes] [No]
      Etc.
      etc..

      So whoever is in charge of the questions asked of vistitors to the US ... REALLY ARE THAT STUPID

    30. Re: The whole idea is stupid by 0111+1110 · · Score: 1

      Only stupid people think everyone else is even more stupid. The guys who come up with schemes like this have the IQs of monkeymen. So of course they are going to assume that jihadists or whoever are going to be even dumber than they are. Morons.

      --
      Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
    31. Re:The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree, but not only that.

      Can anyone seriously imagine that customs and immigration are actually going to take the time to check out a social media account? How much time would that add to border processing procedures? An hour? Per person?

      No. It won't be used or useful that way. OK, maybe they are creating a database to follow up on terror suspects after the fact, to give the feds more information to investigate. Sounds reasonable right?

      Except... creating a giant database sounds familiar... sounds like the games the NSA is already playing. Does anyone believe that searches of this database will be limited to known or suspected terrorists? It's a database and the TLAs have gotten really good at searching them.

      And these are foreign nationals. I'll bet you a dollar that the TLAs will claim that due process and warrants aren't needed because they aren't citizens. In fact I'll bet you considerably more than a dollar on that. And I'll further bet you that the scope of database searches rapidly expands to include drug dealers, arms offences, murder, sex crimes, anything involving children, and likely a hundred more besides.

      All in all, this sounds most like a continuation of the power grab the TLAs have been on for the last 15 years. And yeah, I'll also bet they count on the intimidation factor. "Oh, I don't want to attract attention or cause trouble, so I better answer the optional question." And I'll further bet that they go out of their way to omit the information, that answering that question is optional.

    32. Re: The whole idea is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They won't realize you lied about it until after the bus has exploded.

    33. Re:The whole idea is stupid by LQ · · Score: 1

      Do they really think that if some ISIS guy flies in, he's going to fill out the customs form honestly and say "Yep, my Twitter handle is @jihad4lyfe!" It's preposterous to think this would be effective at gathering any sort of reasonable intelligence.

      The USA citizenship application form has the question: "Have you ever advocated (either indirectly or directly) the overthrow of any government by force or violence?" I remember there used to be something similar on landing cards about overthrowing the US government. There are various apocryphal stories of wits writing "sole purpose of visit".

    34. Re:The whole idea is stupid by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      What those questions are for, in practice, is to allow deportation. Lying on anything pertaining to coming into the country is grounds for deportation. Check the "I am not a member of a terrorist organization" and lie about it, and you can be deported without anything else being established, no matter how much time has passed.

      I had a next door neighbor (he lives elsewhere in the neighborhood now) who was a member of the Galician SS. When he came to the US in the late 40s, his papers said (among other things) that he'd never been a member of the SS. (He wasn't at all good with English then, so it's doubtful he filled them out, but legally that doesn't matter.) In the 2010s, he was found to have been the commander of a unit involved in an atrocity, and the German authorities and the US state department finally decided that a man in his 90s who'd been a good person for about seventy years really didn't need to be deported and/or extradited. (Me? I know enough about the history involved to know that I can't imagine what it was like, and I'm not going to condemn someone without understanding the circumstances.)

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    35. Re: The whole idea is stupid by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      If you Google me, you'll find several people with that name. Most people have duplicates out there. The only exception I personally know is my wife, who has an unusual first name and a not-very-common last name.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    36. Re:The whole idea is stupid by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      The people writing the questions aren't that stupid. You're missing the idea behind the questions.

      Lying on one of those forms is grounds for being thrown out of the country immediately, without further ado. If a visitor or immigrant does something perfectly legal (but suspicious) that contradicts any question on the form, the US government doesn't have to find any further excuse to get that person out.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
    37. Re: The whole idea is stupid by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

      The guys that come up with this stuff aren't the guys doing it. That's the previous guy's point, he was probably thinking they get an idiot to do it (though he can say for himself here if he likes, I don't want to put words into his mouth). That's why he said they aren't that isn't sophisticated. Also, why I was interested in if he had an example of an educated man doing this. Could happen, even educated men do dumb things sometimes.
      I've looked into it over the years, since the 1980s. You don't see engineers or doctors or educated people doing things like this. Engineers, such as Yasser Arafat would get imbeciles, sometimes a moron to do it. WTH am I talking about? - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... . A lot of people call others names and they have no idea what they are talking about. Now you can insult someone knowing just how stupid you are calling them.

      Doesn't take much to get a useful idiot to drive a truck of explosives up to a building. I think that much is clear. Doesn't take much to get a bunch of useful idiots to protest over a justified police shooting either.

  2. One comment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    get absolutely fucked.

  3. It does nothing! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "ludicrous," an "all-around bad idea," "blatant overreach," "desperate, paranoid heavy-handedness," "preposterous," "appalling," and "un-American," - AND STUPID!

    1. Re: It does nothing! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      These seem to be the standards for laws these days.

  4. The comfort you have demanded is now mandatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i don't do social media, generally, so i only have accounts on two of those systems. would i be denied entry? fine. i didn't want to visit your country anyway, principally for fear of being shot by an angry cop at the airport, and i'm not even black.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oxdlDonLw0

    captcha: disobey

    1. Re: The comfort you have demanded is now mandatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I second that

    2. Re:The comfort you have demanded is now mandatory by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      They'd find your ass anyway. Just look for the only person on the planet who posts "captcha" everywhere.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    3. Re: The comfort you have demanded is now mandatory by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What they are forgetting is that we also are willing to send our kids to their country to kill them by the tens of thousands. Staying in their country to avoid our cops is no guarantee of safety.

      Sadly, I am only being a little funny.

      As an aside, it would be nice if our police did go visit other countries. Maybe it would be nice if they had some culture. They should also live where they patrol but I digress and could go on for hours.

  5. It's common sense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why not see what travelers to the USA are saying publicly?

    1. Re: It's common sense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Because it is pointless an it is an invasion of privacy. The US treat its visitors bad enough as it is.

    2. Re: It's common sense. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What you post on FB is private?

    3. Re: It's common sense. by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      AC this will be your public social media, private social media, all your contacts, history, instant messenger logs. All contacts made, some might not be added as friend.
      Anything your account still have left on it when you log in and never changed the privacy or keep history, transcript settings. None of that is "Public" and can only be seen by the account holder depending on the network.
      The local device logs or the online logs will be fully cloned for later searching, indexing, examination with any open US investigations, federal and state.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  6. Gov't building database on US citizens by QuietLagoon · · Score: 5, Interesting
    If a foreign traveler is coming to the US for a visit, chances are that person will have some facebook, linkedin or other social media contacts who are US citizens.

    .
    So, in effect, this proposal results in the government building a database of US citizens. The government couldn't do that directly, so they go about it indirectly, i.e., using foreigners as the entry point into social media. From that entry point, they just follow the links and connections.

    1. Re:Gov't building database on US citizens by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      Government can already do that with technology that existed before 911. I would expect that the data aggregators have adapted with the times and can tell you what your social media identities are and who all of your real accomplices are.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    2. Re:Gov't building database on US citizens by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Governments don't even have to go to that extreme. They (tm) just approach the social media or other sites, pony up some cash, and get themselves whatever data they want to sift through. No additional laws or surveillance needed, as the private sector with the TOS agreements and the people who will happily rat on each other will do the work for them.

      Why duplicate effort when private business does more intrusive surveillance than any government could ever dream of?

    3. Re:Gov't building database on US citizens by jmcvetta · · Score: 1

      Government already does that

      FTFY

    4. Re:Gov't building database on US citizens by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This makes no sense. US authorities can already build databases of US citizens using web scrapers and have have very likely done so, because there is no law against collecting data from publicly available information and intelligence agencies have always had the stance that the regulations for spying on US citizens only apply only to information that is not publicly available. Even when they restrict access to outsiders or "non-friends", information on social networks is counted as published.

  7. Twit McTwitface by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Certainly officer, you can have my IDs. They are Twit McTwitface, and Face McFaceFace.

    1. Re: Twit McTwitface by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      McLovin

    2. Re:Twit McTwitface by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Certainly officer, you can have my IDs. They are Twit McTwitface, and Face McFaceFace.

      Social Media ID: AllahAkbarObama

      CAPTCHA: scoffed

  8. Guilty by omission? by chrism238 · · Score: 1

    So anyone without an account on any of the childish social media sites will be now regarded with suspicion?

    1. Re:Guilty by omission? by dAzED1 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      ::blink:: Do you not realize, for some reason, that Slashdot is a social media site? And what, precisely, is it that you think makes google+, linkedin, facebook, twitter, or more or less most of the major social media sites..."childish?" Granted, I myself don't have accounts on any but google+, and only that because I've made a few reviews on maps, but..it's 2016. Calling the act of being social online "childish" makes you sound both 80, and out of touch. Especially when the complaint is being made on a social media site.

    2. Re:Guilty by omission? by Xian97 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      This seems more to be a forum than social media to me. I don't have friends or follow anyone and post no media. Slashdot would only be considered social media in the very broadest sense. I post on a few forums but have no social media presence at all in what is generally understood to be such, like Twitter, Facebook, et al.

    3. Re: Guilty by omission? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Just fill in the blank @RealDonaldTrump.

    4. Re:Guilty by omission? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ::blink::
          Do you not realize, for some reason, that Slashdot is a social media site?

      Are you new here? This is more of an anti-social site.

    5. Re:Guilty by omission? by iCEBaLM · · Score: 2

      Do you not realize, for some reason, that Slashdot is a social media site?

      That's a pretty broad definition of social media you have, didn't know it included forums now.

    6. Re:Guilty by omission? by dAzED1 · · Score: 1

      Well here's how Webster defines it: "forms of electronic communication (such as Web sites) through which people create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, etc." What of that do you not think is the core purpose of this website? Users post news bits, we all get on to discuss news bits, we have friends and foes, we rate each other...where in that are you getting lost? Propose a better definition for the term, otherwise. Explain how yours is more correct than what a google for "define: social media" turns up.

    7. Re:Guilty by omission? by dAzED1 · · Score: 1

      Yup, that's probably it. You figured it out. I mean, this isn't even my first account here, and it's a low-5-digit account, but hey...I'm new here. Just joined last week, actually.

    8. Re:Guilty by omission? by dAzED1 · · Score: 1

      what is it you think defines the words "social" and "media," for starters, and why is it you seem to be incapable of looking up "social media" online to see that it most certainly includes places like this? We're interacting. That's a form of socialization. Forums aren't direct private messages, sure, but we're certainly communicating somewhat interactively. "Media" doesn't just mean videos and music, either. Oddly though, combining "social" and "media" doesn't really match what "social media" means, since it is restricted to online activities...one can be social via media without it being online, but this here - Slashdot - is certainly a website for users to post information, communicate, share ideas, etc. The exact definition of "social media." It was started with that exact purpose, and retains that exact purpose. It's not the same website as facebook, but neither is twitter.

    9. Re:Guilty by omission? by dAzED1 · · Score: 1

      To be more clear on the final point there - to say it's not the same as twitter and facebook is rather ridiculous, because twitter and facebook aren't the same either.

    10. Re:Guilty by omission? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Slashdot is a social media site

      and it's membership is at least as 'unstable' and 'radical' as anywhere else.

    11. Re:Guilty by omission? by TigerPlish · · Score: 1

      Well here's how Webster defines it: "forms of electronic communication (such as Web sites) through which people create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, etc."

      Well, hell, by that yardstick, the BBS I ran in the 90's was Social media! I even had fight-o-net!

      It was called Phosphor Dots BBS. Two nodes on a 386 running DesqView. RemoteAccess and FrontDoor and a huge batch file to run it all.. I miss running it. I miss the *real* social aspect of it -- pizza night. And the local BBS sysop meetings.

      Today's social media could learn from the BBS era, I think. Something has been lost.

      --
      The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
    12. Re:Guilty by omission? by SirSlud · · Score: 1

      Good thing you're not childish. Man, it sounds like a lot of work for some people my age.

      --
      "Old man yells at systemd"
    13. Re:Guilty by omission? by MrL0G1C · · Score: 1

      Slashdot doesn't do 'communities' or 'personal messages' it's pretty anonymous and public, The people on my friend/foe lists aren't friends like people on Facebook are, they are merely tags which I use because I tend to agree or disagree with a person.

      --
      Waterfox - a Firefox fork with legacy extension support, security updates and better privacy by default.
    14. Re:Guilty by omission? by Actually,+I+do+RTFA · · Score: 1

      Do you not realize, for some reason, that Slashdot is a social media site? And what, precisely, is it that you think makes google+, linkedin, facebook, twitter, or more or less most of the major social media sites..."childish?"

      Well, on slashdot, every thing is pseudonymous (at least from me). It doesn't track any of my meatspace connections. There are no pictures. While my posts are the content is are being sold, (very Web 2.0), there's no real profile on me that can be crossapplied, beyond the ads on /.

      And childish isn't the proper term. But it can certainly be stupid.

      --
      Your ad here. Ask me how!
    15. Re:Guilty by omission? by GrumpyNope · · Score: 1

      I think it's because people have turned the word into something more specific. This is similar to what happened with the word "hacker" which most people use to mean someone that does malicious things on computers and not someone who tinkers around with software. Regardless of what the dictionary says, words can change meaning over time. In this sense most people refer to social media as a network in which one basically has a dedicated audience. You have friends on Facebook, you have followers on Twitter, you have subscribers on Youtube, you have connections on Linkedin etc etc. and these people instantly see all of your activity. Those things really don't exist on forums. (yes some forums have implemented a friends-like feature in their forum software but again that's heavily dependent on the forum software and most of the ones I've seen still don't quite work in the same way that the big networks work)

    16. Re:Guilty by omission? by iCEBaLM · · Score: 1

      Social Media should be pretty self explanatory.

      Social = Community
      Media = The main means of mass communication (typically TV, radio, newspapers, etc)

      So it is news for your community. While slashdots blog posts may qualify, forums don't. I don't post here to give news to my community, I post here to comment about the news posted, and my posts do are not mass communications, since only a subset of the sites users use the forums.

    17. Re:Guilty by omission? by jader3rd · · Score: 2

      Slashdot is an antisocial media site.

    18. Re:Guilty by omission? by dcw3 · · Score: 1

      So, if we don't actually know anyone IRL here, does it fit their definition of social media....that'd be my question.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    19. Re:Guilty by omission? by bloodhawk · · Score: 1

      since when has knowing who the person at the other end of the computer is been a requirement for social media?

    20. Re:Guilty by omission? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By that definition, phpBB or guestbooks are social media and that's clearly false.

    21. Re:Guilty by omission? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      mod++

      yours truly
      Anonymous Coward

    22. Re:Guilty by omission? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Forums are by definition social media.

    23. Re:Guilty by omission? by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      So every news site that happens to allow user comments is a social media site? I don't think that's how those of us who aren't in Marketing see it.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    24. Re: Guilty by omission? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just fill in the blank @RealDonaldTrump.

      That handle would get you banned from the U.S. as its views are incompatible with the values of the U.S. Constitution. Border control and immigration operate under different conditions than the presidential voting booths do.

    25. Re:Guilty by omission? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      since when has knowing who the person at the other end of the computer is been a requirement for social media?

      Devil's advocate here: Does allowing anonymity mean that we can accept 4chan counting as "social media", my friend?
      The term "social media" was not coined before Facebook's era (Feb 2004)
      While there's no specifics on Webster's dictionary, they confirm the 2004 date for me:
      http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/social%20media

      I do not agree that forums are "social" either --just ask most facebookers and they'll give you blank stares if you ask them to move their social skills there. Slashdotters already had an identity several years before 2004's labeling. Our setting greatly values anonymity, and pseudonymity, and it wasn't until about 5 years ago that SSO was implemented to allow "named" G+ and Facebook logins (I can't recall seeing even a mere 5 different /. ids joining with social logins from those 2 sources, because it reveals their name)

      I'm pretty sure the media itself only recognizes the big social sites as "social" anyway. Where do you draw the line? It's *somewhere* because even if I accepted your vision, we both know Usenet doesn't count, for instance. Nobody called AOL social media either, but the chatting system and walled-garden forums had a fairly community-like vibe.

    26. Re:Guilty by omission? by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      If your entering the USA for any reason create a work account now. Import work ready emails going back years so it looks used. A few emails a week for a few years so sort by date looks good.
      If its social media, add your company coworkers that can be seen on any front page, homepage or have some publicity surrounding them.
      Thats your new travel web 2.0 social media.
      If asked for any other accounts say your company policy only allows the work accounts and they can be fully accessed.
      Compliance will allow all names and contacts to be cloned during the inspection and that is all the US gov will want.
      Make sure your laptop is 100% new, new storage media, new OS, new work applications only, some work needed for that trip and the web 2.0, email accounts, ensure no wireless devices.
      The MAC and any other unique hardware numbers will also be collected. Try to use wired networks, VPN via a new router to cover the laptops ethernet.
      Do not store anything related to the VPN use.
      If you can only use wifi, buy a new cheap card or device in the USA for that trip only.
      Return home with the same laptop and expect another inspection, deep media scan, to show accounts, clone of all data, have a few new work related emails to show, a search for any encrypted partitions ect.
      Really its just the same security any traveller would take when entering any nation with a digital domestic collect it all policy.
      Be aware of any offers of fews wifi, hotel wifi, cafe wifi near hotel. SIM cards are also a huge risk.
      "New Snowden docs show Canadian spies tracked thousands of travellers"
      http://arstechnica.com/tech-po...
      "SIM card makers hacked by NSA and GCHQ leaving cell networks wide open"
      http://arstechnica.com/tech-po...

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  9. Land of the free by XSportSeeker · · Score: 1

    Land of the free... as long as you have Big Brother always watching you.
    We're not too far from two minutes of hate being implemented should Trump be elected anyways... more like 4 years of hate.

    1. Re:Land of the free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's illegal to use a legal name. Google 'Legal Name Fraud' to learn why.

    2. Re:Land of the free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1) Be afraid of Facebook/Google/etc. building files on you, not the government. While the government can theoretically do worse things to you, the odds are infinitesimal (unless you're actually up to something shady ofc). OTOH targeted advertising is a real, omnipresent negative force experienced by everyone who uses the internet, and - like all advertising - is a psychological attack aimed directly at your bank account.

      2) I'm always amused by the ability of some people to freely assign any negative attribute or potential action imaginable to Trump without the slightest evidence or rationale, up to and including literal fascist death camps and nuclear annihilation. It's like Obama Derangement Syndrome suddenly jumped from one population to another and just changed the target. Who needs a Two Minutes' Hate when we can have dozens of 15 Seconds' Hates every day? (Alongside the occasional violent assault on the odd Trump supporter brave enough to show his support in public)

    3. Re:Land of the free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You people who think Trump is some Johnny-come-lately tyrant need to wake up. Take a good look at who's in power right now, and what they've done to your country during their tenure.

      This very article is something happening under Obama's watch. The unconstitutional Obamacare (and how arrogant to name it after himself). The unconstitutional mass spying on US citizens. The drone murders of numerous innocent foreigners, their only crime being standing too close to one of Obama's assassination targets. The constant wars, the constant lies, the constant overreach of authority, the constant pushing of bullshit agendas in order to divide the people of the country he's supposed to be looking after. Congress and senate full of people like "we have to pass the bill to see what's in it!" Pelosi, senator Di$ney, warmongers Graham and McCain. It's just a shitstain that goes on as far as the eye can see.

      But yeah, let's all pile on Trump for stuff he *might* do, all while ignoring the mountain of crimes the current administration is committing.

    4. Re:Land of the free by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1
      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    5. Re:Land of the free by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      The name was NOT coined by Obama.

      And that's just the tip of the factually-challenged iceberg.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    6. Re:Land of the free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Challenge accepted, nutjob detected.

      A weak attempt to marginalize the OP with the standard tactic of conflation. Mindless indeed.

  10. Obama admin facing grim realities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The combination of social media, open borders in Europe, and the Islamic extremism that is centuries old but whose recent spread was magnified by Bush, Blair, Obama, Merkel, and the other globalists has produced a situation in which very dangerous people are using social media to organize and plot very violent activities and the normal behind-the-scenes government-to-government info exchanges about travellers are not working. The countries from which many travellers are originating these days know very little about them since they are recent arrivals there and were generally unscreened while immigrating due to political correctness.

    This sort of thing may be distatsteful, but critics need to offer some rational suggestion for somethng better since many of them have been supporters of the very sorts of politics that made the older methods of screening, which mostly narrowly focused on the actual dangerous people, no longer acceptable. If there are arsonists wandering around and you have campaigned to make it politically unacceptable to use fire extinguishers then you cannot be surprised if small fires are put out with big fire hoses that get everybody wet.

    If Trump was the one doing this, the left would be screaming that it was obviously racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, ..., but since it's Obama, they'll just look for ways to pretend it's Trump and that he's racist,sexist....

    1. Re:Obama admin facing grim realities by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      The remnants of the Ottoman empire can stop being at each other's throats but it's really all just the fault of the West. Ditto for the idea that that dreams of rebuilt empire are also all just the fault of the West.

      912 was the day that the last caliphate was defanged.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    2. Re:Obama admin facing grim realities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Step one stop randomly having people murder perps. This sounds like a troll attempt, but no the president makes up his kill list. The kill list is implemented, & 20 people are killed for every target on the list (on average). Yeah imagine some country murdering people with drones, now imagine your outrage at seeing friends and relatives killed. Can you feel me, is the disconnect so ingrained that you nodded your head, yeah that sounds good to me. Don't apologize for the person who is digging their own grave.

    3. Re:Obama admin facing grim realities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Terrorists don't use Facebook, Twitter and so forth. Vast majority of communication is done through burner phones or face-to-face. Nice try tho.

    4. Re:Obama admin facing grim realities by joe_frisch · · Score: 2

      To run with your analogy. If one house burns down, you don't flood the entire city. Inside the US, the damage due to foreign terrorism is very small relative to other risks that we accept. We do not need extreme measures.

      This approach is also likely to result in a lot of false positives. These mistakes can actually increase the terrorism risk. Stories of Muslims denied entry to the US can increase the hatred and cultural divide that is feeding terrorism in the first place.

    5. Re:Obama admin facing grim realities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "but since it's the government asking, critics believe travelers will fear consequences...

      If those few words not help you understand, how Americans have completely lost control over their government, nothing will. Vote for the establishment, pretending to be democratic, and this shitshow will get even worst.

    6. Re:Obama admin facing grim realities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Obama wants violence on US streets. He wants to use it as a tool to strip away 2nd Amendment rights and create more vectors for gathering data that the man on the street won't question as anything but public safety measures.

    7. Re:Obama admin facing grim realities by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      See but the problem is, anyone that wants to coordinate things can use ANYTHING.. heck, they could roll their own if they wanted to.. there are tons of tools to do that. Twitter/Facebook/etc... make it easier (they don't have to maintain the infrastructure)..but the reality is this is a fools errand that really is targeted at data collection they would not legally have access to which will ultimately serve not its intended purpose, but another one.. What that other one is remains to be seen.

  11. Fight Back by alternative_right · · Score: 2

    It's technically an 'optional' request

    See how loudly you can say I DECLINE TO PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION.

    Government always wants more power -- like every other organization and individual, if you put your Machiavellian cap on -- and tries out its new ideas with test runs like this.

    Push back and they will back off.

    Give in and bend over, and expect more of the same, except worse.

    1. Re:Fight Back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More like push back and they will arrest you.

    2. Re:Fight Back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      General alias: GoFuckYourself
      Twitter handle: @TheUSKillsUsAll
      Other known accounts: WhoTheFDoYouThinkYouAre, GoBzzzztInPlacesThatHurt, GeneralThreatOfViolence, YouCouldntFindATerroristEvenIfYouLooked

      Gladly a non-traveler to that side of the pond since a very long time now.

    3. Re: Fight Back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yes just like civil rights it took many arrests to get the point across. I'd rather be officially arrested than live a life under arrest perpetually by fear.

    4. Re:Fight Back by mobby_6kl · · Score: 0

      Agreed in general. However here they want to implement this at border crossings, so refusing to hand over the facebooks will go over just as well as refusing to show them the passport or just looking sketchy -- you'll get sent back home (or to gitmo). Good luck with civil disobedience then.

    5. Re:Fight Back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Have fun with that cavity search.

    6. Re: Fight Back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why should foreign travelers, coming into the US for a short trip, risk arrest to prevent USian from living their life in fear? Especially when those USians keep voting for the same two parties that both did their best to create that fear?

      Smart foreigners simply avoid going to the US complete. When it cannot be avoided, simpler to just bend over, in the same manner as every foreigners now give fingerprints when entering Japan.

    7. Re:Fight Back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      See how loudly you can say I DECLINE TO PROVIDE THAT INFORMATION.

      See how loudly customs can say I DECLINE TO LET YOU INTO THE COUNTRY.

    8. Re:Fight Back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      See how customs reacts when you say loudly I HAVE TO USE THE BATHROOM RIGHT NOW.

    9. Re:Fight Back by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You think they've no toilets in the international zone?

      But then you've never actually travelled much of anywhere, have you?

  12. Stop visiting the US. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    You are only encouraging them.

    I stopped doing business requiring me to fly there back in 2004 because of INS/TSA abuse.

    Anyone who worries about their bank account before they worry about their freedom can go fuck themselves.

    1. Re:Stop visiting the US. by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Use a quality bespoke VPN or meet your US friends in a more tourist friendly and data friendly third party nation. Take the opportunity of a face to face meeting to set up a one time pad system :) A new novel to read while travelling or pages ready for code.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  13. Ghost profiles? by EkriirkE · · Score: 1

    Just like encryption, just have a secondary generic/sparsely populated one for them to "find" and explore.

    --
    from 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
    to 45 2F 6E 40 3C DF 10 71 4E 41 DF AA 25 7D 31 3F
  14. Better Test by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Give them a ham sandwich! If they don't eat it, kick them out.
    Fuck you and your imaginary friend you religious nutjob!

    1. Re:Better Test by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

      Right, let's keep out all those terrorist vegetarians and Orthodox Jews...

      And, who knows, maybe even some Muslims--at least those who pay attention to the dietary laws. I know some who don't, or who only abstain from such things during Ramadan.

      --
      Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    2. Re:Better Test by gweihir · · Score: 1

      Yuck, American ham. And even worse, American bread.

      --
      Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  15. I am on none of them by houghi · · Score: 1

    The only one I have is here and Imgur and that gets deleted every month or so. And when I travel, I use a separate mailbox for each trip. Easier to organize. So they could get the email usa2016@example.com, but they have that already as it was the one I used to apply for my Visa. So they can follow it, but they already know where I am going, because I had to enter that on my Visa.
    And that address will be deleted when I get back.

    And why do they need it? NSA unable to crack https?

    --
    Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    1. Re:I am on none of them by jmcvetta · · Score: 1

      And why do they need it? NSA unable to crack https?

      No need to 'crack' HTTPS when they have legal power over all the important Certificate Authorities. HTTPS is insecure to the US government by design.

  16. Tough luck if you don't do social media by melting_clock · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It would make it difficult for those of us without a facebook, twitter, instagram, linkedin or google+ account... Not having these social media account means you cannot provide them which could be interpreted as a refusal to supply account information... Maybe not by a sane person but the people that make and enforce these rules are another story. That could complicate entry to the US by appearing suspicious and have the typical effect of harming the innocent while doing nothing to improve safety and security.

    I generally avoid social media because of privacy and security considerations. I do have memberships of many forums and discussion groups because they offer an acceptable level of privacy.

    1. Re:Tough luck if you don't do social media by i.r.id10t · · Score: 1

      Eh, just get your own VPS and run fingerd

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
    2. Re:Tough luck if you don't do social media by cardpuncher · · Score: 2

      But you do have a Slashdot account. Is Slashdot social media? Fancy having an argument about whether it is and whether you should have declared it when you arrive at the border? I almost got deported on one visit to the US (and at that time I had a business visa) because I said I was planning to stay a "fortnight", a word the border agent apparently didn't understand and therefore assumed meant "as long as is necessary to overthrow the government". Giving them more scope to excercise their xenophobia seems unlikely to end well.

      Nothing will persuade me now to visit the US. I certainly have no intention of paying a fee to Uncle Sam to be fingerprinted and photographed so I can be hunted down as soon as my dangerous foreign ways turn inevitably to criminality.

      If I were a US citizen, I would, I hope, be more concerned about the effect of increasingly authoritarian government on myself and my children and reflect that an attempt to stifle the free expression of views by visitors might just be a prelude to a similar policy at home.

    3. Re:Tough luck if you don't do social media by bazorg · · Score: 1

      It would make it difficult for those of us without a facebook, twitter, instagram, linkedin or google+ account

      Some people refuse completely to use social media; some are from an age group that does not care about social media; some use social media without connections to others, just for the purpose of logging in via FB rather than with user/pwd.

      Even if this kind of information request is presented as "not mandatory but you're in trouble if you say no", there has to be a practical way to get on with life without blocking the queue if the individual says "I don't use any of those any more"

    4. Re:Tough luck if you don't do social media by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I said I was planning to stay a "fortnight"

      So you were deliberately trolling a border agent with Elizabethan English? You like to live dangerously.

  17. Tell the government by Kludge · · Score: 3, Informative

    Don't post here.
    Post here

    1. Re:Tell the government by cmcqueen1975 · · Score: 0

      Thanks for the link. But when I tried to add a comment, it said, "Comment Period Closed Aug 22 2016, at 11:59 PM ET".

  18. So we won't go to the States if it can be avoided by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If I can avoid it I no am longer willing to go to the USA as I find the attitude at the border intolerable. Why go somewhere to be treated as a criminal? Customs and Immigration staff in all of the countries I have visited are capable of being both effective, polite and friendly. The big exception is the USA, where the attitude and rudeness are legendary. So now they want to ask for (demand) my social media accounts before letting me enter the country... not going to happen, but only because I won't visit the USA.

  19. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by Drishmung · · Score: 5, Informative

    USA constitutional rights apply to citizens only.

    No. You fail civics,

    The Supreme Court has insisted for more than a century that foreign nationals living among us are "persons" within the meaning of the Constitution, and are protected by those rights that the Constitution does not expressly reserve to citizens. The Constitution expressly limits to citizens only the rights to vote and to run for federal elective office.

    Here, have a little light reading.

    --
    Protoplasm. Quiet Protoplasm. I like quiet protoplasm.
  20. Whelp, I'm fucked by Snotnose · · Score: 1

    No FB, no twitter, no snapchat, absolutely no accounts on "social media". Given the number of working neurons in your typical Homeland Security worker, that means I get the hammer to the kneecaps until I give up an account.

    1. Re:Whelp, I'm fucked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And they won't believe you either. I go into gov offices regularly and they spend most their days on facebook poking people.

    2. Re:Whelp, I'm fucked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait... aren't you the Snotnose that was going to run for President?

    3. Re:Whelp, I'm fucked by RandomSurfer314 · · Score: 1

      Just don't visit the US. It's not worth it, anyway.

    4. Re:Whelp, I'm fucked by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

      You have this one. Snotnose on slashdot.
      I wish I could be the guy behind you to see the look on their face.

    5. Re:Whelp, I'm fucked by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Then the interview rooms get smaller and the interviews go on for hours. Better to have some work safe email account to show going back years.
      If asked for home account, say work demands you use their network at home but its free or very much discounted and one of the few really useful perks considering data caps in your nation...
      Keep the happy chat down flowing and be helpful, friendly. Body language training, voice, facial changes are a huge part of the US interview policy. Contractors make huge profits selling the US gov training on been able to understand just such body language.
      Expect the same friendly chat downs during car rental, taxi, during hotel stay. Enjoy that free gov "wifi" offer too :)

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    6. Re:Whelp, I'm fucked by david_thornley · · Score: 1

      No, it means you're subject to immediate deportation if you are found to have a Snapchat account.

      --
      "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  21. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    USA constitutional rights apply to citizens only.

    No. You fail civics,

    And you fail the law. ENTRY (for non-citizens) has no such rights (in pretty much any country). It is what gives Customs and Border Control such power over those who request (and it is a request) entry to the country (any country) when the requester is not a citizen.

    Now, perhaps, the laws should be changed for all countries to eliminate all border controls for "citizens of the world". But that is a different discussion.

  22. About the same effect as asking by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "are you a terrorist?"

    All this would do is make the social media companies happy, as they should see a huge increase in registered users.

    Terrorist or not people will be creating fake accounts in addition to (or as their only one) their real accounts.

    not sure how capturing accounts with no links or any activity will help.

  23. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This can only produce a database of innocents, some of them unaware of their connections. So it is spying on innocents. And it possibly will result in abducting some of them for torture, maybe drone bombing when they get back home after not doing anything against Americans.

    People with half a brain and actual terrorists or terrorist connected people aware of such connection wouldn't give the information or they would fabricate alternative ones.

    Just because the dumb innocents are not US citizens it doesn't mean decent Americans won't care. They did, you are not one of them.

  24. Strange question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If the NSA, CIA, FBI, and other US agencies already have access to Facebook's and Google's databases, then why ask individuals for their ID's? I suspect it's another case of misguided "security theater" designed to have an impact on public perception rather than have any investigative usefulness. Do they still ask people if they are or ever have been members of the Communist Party?

    1. Re:Strange question... by PPH · · Score: 2

      then why ask individuals for their ID's?

      To demonstrate compliance. Also, one of the primary charges levied against people the gov't doesn't like is making false statements to a federal agent. There may be nothing actionable in the online ramblings of a visitor to this country. At most, they might be asked to leave. But if you can catch them in a lie, there's jail time involved.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    2. Re:Strange question... by gordguide · · Score: 2

      If the NSA, CIA, FBI, and other US agencies already have access to Facebook's and Google's databases, then why ask individuals for their ID's? I suspect it's another case of misguided "security theater" designed to have an impact on public perception rather than have any investigative usefulness. Do they still ask people if they are or ever have been members of the Communist Party?



      It's a fundamental principle of investigation (and Border Security guards are in the business of investigation) to ask questions you already know the answer to, to test the truthfulness of the subject before you. Cops do it, Insurance investigators do it, employers do it, prospective landlords do it, bank loans officers do it. Everybody does it; even your parents.

      I thought everyone knew that. Maybe I give people too much credit sometimes.
    3. Re:Strange question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let's compare that with lies originating from within the government. How many of those liars are in jail?

    4. Re:Strange question... by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Parallel construction, a slight hope to find account sharing, draft emails that two people log into to read but are never sent. Users chatting but not added to friend or buddy lists. i.e. a long chat history exists but the friend or buddy was never added.
      All that is given to state, federal and public private charities to filter. Has any aspect of the past account use ever shown up, do the people mentioned have any friends in common or any normal reason to even be chatting. How did they meet and what do they chat about... Friends of friends of friends...?
      The hope is that the users computers logs are still intact for some reason and a clone, inspection to find any past crypto use, history, file names, MAC or other unique numbers will be useful.
      The past hope was for a person to bring their own laptop with them full of history, logs, filenames, accounts.... Now its all the online accounts too.
      Even the account name, password or pass phrase used can be telling.
      i.e. the laptop was not new was the past and full of details, now the account question was so totally unexpected and the person gives over gave their real ISP or social media accounts as they had to give something.

      re the Communist Party, 'Have you ever participated in persecutions directed by the Nazi government or Germany" question :
      The question about been a member of some banned group is to induce a lie on an application or under oath that can then be used to deport without any extra legal protections.
      If you say yes, your not allowed in, if no and your discovered later, instant deportation. The Communist Party? Given how many had to stayed in the party ;) or Party....

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  25. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by Solandri · · Score: 2

    U.S. Constitutional rights are limited to everyone (citizens, foreigners, illegals) in certain U.S. territories. When you're trying to enter the U.S. and are held up at Customs and Immigration, you are not yet considered to be on U.S. soil, so you do not enjoy the protection of U.S. Constitutional rights. This is precisely why Bush put a POW prison camp in Guantanamo Bay. While Guantanamo is controlled by the U.S., it is Cuban territory. And thus prisoners there would not be protected by the U.S. Constitution. (At least until Boumediene v. Bush which decided since the U.S. maintained "de facto sovereignty" over the base, it could be considered U.S. territory.)

    Whether U.S. citizens enjoy U.S. Constitutional protections when abroad is an unsettled matter too. The recent drone killings of U.S. citizens fighting for ISIS abroad were done under the presumption that the answer is "no". They are not entitled to due process guaranteed by the 5th and 14th Amendments. If you extend that reasoning (not saying this is correct, just saying if you extend that reasoning), then U.S. citizens trying to re-enter the U.S. do not enjoy Constitutional protection until after they have been admitted.

    That's why DHS trying to extend this territorial exclusion to a 100 mile bubble around U.S. entry points (borders and international airports) was so ridiculous and troubling. They were basically trying to make it so anyone within 100 miles of the U.S. border or an international airport did not have Constitutional protection.

  26. Why the outrage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When the U.S. government requires a biometic ID of all it's citizens via the 'Real ID' act. I mean when you are required to surrender your papers whenever approached by law enforcement, why is it such a big deal to require non citizens to show their online activities to law enforcement officials.

    If you feel naked if you do not have a form of Real ID whenever you are traveling and you will willingly surrender the Real ID whenever requested by law enforcement, you will also surrender you guns, or any other rights you might have once had.

    You are the subject of President Obama. You have all the rights delineated in the constitution, but the government can interpret the constitution in any and every way it sees fit at the moment, which may change from time to time at the discretion of the government.

    Rights are a 20th century construct. Hell rights were invented by white people who owned slaves. When you people say you want your 'rights' that is a 'code word' for saying you want to own slaves. In the new world, it takes a village, and the village knows what is right for your and your family. What is wrong with giving out your Real ID to a cop, or you social security number to the phone company, or a history of you online activities to immigration if it will protect you and your family from crazy people. Are you some kind of homophobic, racist, nazi, pedophile, sovereign citizen type nut case who wants to interfere with the governments lawful right to enforce the law?

    Nothing to see here move on.

  27. ha ha by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just another reason for never going to idiot lah lah land,just further proof that their so far up their own arses that they can no longer see what's going on around them.
    Americans,an evolutionary dead end.
    Send us your poor,your stupid,your criminal,your retarded,your idiot God botherers,we will let them all breed together to get a hybrid stupid,criminal regard.

  28. There are dditional, subtle changes to the form by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 1

    The U.S. Government has rather quietly introduced some subtle language changes in certain questions, designed to help identify possible terrorists.

    Q: How long will you be staying in the Great Satan?

    Q: What is the primary purpose of your visit (pick one)?
    - Vacation / Pleasure
    - Work / Business
    - Slaughtering infidels

    Q: How fast can you disassemble and reassemble an AK-47?

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  29. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by jcr · · Score: 1

    All constitutional rights (unless otherwise indicated) apply to US Nationals.

    Nope. Go read the bill of rights. None of those amendments say "unless you're not a citizen."

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  30. Refusal will be grounds for Interrogation by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 2

    Do they really think that if some ISIS guy flies in, he's going to fill out the customs form honestly and say "Yep, my Twitter handle is @jihad4lyfe!"

    No, they probably think that he will refuse to give them a handle and then they will use this as grounds to detain him for interrogation. The problem is that some of us don't use Facebook, Twitter etc. and so I don't have an account to give them - other than a dummy Facebook account which is entirely devoid of any personal information and that I only created because our local airport used to insist on Facebook to access the free WiFi. However I expect this will look like I created a dummy account to hide my real account from them.

    I'm beginning to wonder whether the US government's long term plan is to make travelling to the US such a horrible experience for us foreigners that identifying the terrorists will be easy because they will be the only ones insane enough to try.

    1. Re:Refusal will be grounds for Interrogation by slashrio · · Score: 0

      I'm beginning to wonder whether the US government's long term plan is to make travelling to the US such a horrible experience for us foreigners that identifying the terrorists will be easy because they will be the only ones insane enough to try.

      There barely are any real terrorists except for that bunch of false flag government paid fake terrorists but I digress.
      I guess American airlines would go bankrupt by the hundreds...
      And I am still at a loss why so many people are still willing to visit this lawless country where almost every day an innocent unarmed civilian is shot by the police, government theft through civil forfeiture by far exceeds the stealing by all (other) criminals together, French banks can be slapped with a multi-billion dollar fine for not violating any French law or else be kicked out of the international financial settlement system, the president establishes every week a list of 'terrorists' that he will order to be extra-judicially killed (and the collateral damage?) and what else did I forget--except for the standard behaviour of toppling governments that don't want to do what the American government asks them to do.
      I for sure would avoid that country like the plague...

      --
      "Trump!!", the new Godwin.
    2. Re: Refusal will be grounds for Interrogation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't worry, in your country, describing the government that way is actually a crime. In ours, it's a tradition.

  31. welcome to nazi germany papers please! by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 1

    welcome to Nazi Germany papers please!

    1. Re:welcome to nazi germany papers please! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      welcome to Nazi Germany papers please!



      The US has long ago surpassed Nazi Germany in the level of policing and the data it tracks about it's citizens, let alone non-citizens travelling through it's territory.

      The UK might be able to teach America a thing or two about surveillance, but when it comes to setting up and operating a Police State, the US has it all over the Brits, as well as most countries in the world. I mean, it was well beyond most nations *before* 911, not that most US citizens realize it ... they seem to think every place is like that.

      There aren't too many places on Earth that can claim to be the equal of America when it comes to gathering information about the people both within and outside it's borders. Maybe the Israelis can come close. Maybe the North Koreans or the People's Republic of China have a few tricks up their sleeve in that regard, but the list starts to get pretty short after those examples.

      There aren't enough computers in all of Cuba or Venezuela to even start to compare. I don't think modern day Russia can reasonably claim to be the equal. They may have had the edge in the 1980's and earlier, but those days are long gone now. There are a few more repressive regimes in the World, but their technology and real-world application of the principles of information gathering are sure to be found lacking in comparison.

      Now, that's not to say America is a repressive regime; but should it somehow become one, well ... the groundwork is already there to be REALLY good at it.
  32. Non-Nefarious Reasons... by SeattleLawGuy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Generally I don't think they should be doing this because of the potential for abuse, but there actually *ARE* reasons why it could be used in ways which are not really privacy invasive.

    The Visa Waiver Program allows stays of up to 90 days. After 80 days, if you have not left the country they could use your social media for a friendly reminder. It might help someone who was going to overstay feel like someone is paying attention and that they have to follow the visa law, and reduce the number of people overstaying their stay in the United States.

    --
    Real lawyers write in C++
    1. Re:Non-Nefarious Reasons... by GNious · · Score: 1

      Not all points of exit are even ABLE to receive e.g. the I-94W slip, or note that you've now left the US - you'll end up spamming people who left the country, that it's time to get out.

    2. Re:Non-Nefarious Reasons... by NotAPK · · Score: 1

      "After 80 days, if you have not left the country they could use your social media for a friendly reminder."

      The immigration service of the US (and most other countries) does nothing to be helpful or friendly. The rules are as they are, and if you don't leave by 90 days then you will suffer the consequences. My understanding (not having experienced it myself) is that if a visitor is in breach of any visa requirements for the US (overstay, working, etc...) then they apply a lifetime ban on that person. Such consequences typically ensure people pay attention to the length of their stay.

    3. Re: Non-Nefarious Reasons... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Next April 15 I expect a spike in Google searches for "universal mandate". People do not pay attention to consequences until they are forced to.

    4. Re:Non-Nefarious Reasons... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not turning in that slip will make the next entry harder, so probably a good idea to be nagged that you didn't turn that in, if coupled with a reasonably-simple mechanism to "turn it in" after the fact.

    5. Re:Non-Nefarious Reasons... by Cinnamon+Beige · · Score: 1

      That doesn't mean necessarily that the immigration service will have noticed you leaving--but all of this could easily be handled by asking for a reliable contact method for sending status notices to, which can & likely should be automated entirely. The notices should basically go out whenever the system registers a change in your status or you getting close to overstaying--and the last at least should include a way to contact them if there's a problem, such as "I can't leave the country in the next 10 days, I left a month ago." (The reason to automate it entirely? That way, it serves as a reasonably reliable way to know if the change in your status registered in the computer systems.)

  33. The Idea May be Stupid... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The idea may be stupid but NON-CITIZENS are not guaranteed all the rights and privileges as a citizen has ...

  34. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by Mitreya · · Score: 1

    -- Protoplasm. Quiet Protoplasm. I like quiet protoplasm.

    "...but I also like lively protoplasm"!

  35. I have no social ID. by Rip!ey · · Score: 1

    I don't do social media. I have no interest in in at all. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+. You name it. Google+ almost got me as I have an Android phone, but after repeatedly refusing signup offers to Google+ I find I can do things that used to require it, like review apps on the app store.

    So if this became a thing, and I traveled to America, would I be branded a suspect of some kind for refusing to hand over details of accounts that don't exist?

    1. Re:I have no social ID. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Here's the thing - I don't either - we're both suspects

    2. Re:I have no social ID. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But you do have a Slashdot account.

    3. Re:I have no social ID. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Suspect of what, not liking bullshit social media sites?

  36. Yes, it's bad by Vinegar+Joe · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    But Donald Trump did not launch it. Genius boy Obama has to take the credit. Along with all the dumbasses who voted for him. Keep on feeling all smug and self-righteous.

    --
    "The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
    1. Re:Yes, it's bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Other people than the president do things in politics, you realize that right?

    2. Re:Yes, it's bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who cares whether Little Hitler or Big Hitler makes the interior policies? The main difference is that Big Hitler will also lead you into all-out war.

    3. Re:Yes, it's bad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's amazing, how libtard mind "works". Trump had NOTHING to do with this idiotic proposal but guess what, cocksucker Patrick Thibodeau thinks it's good idea to make it sound like he had. Just amazing. Actually, it's kinda sad how low pinkos have fallen.

    4. Re:Yes, it's bad by jrumney · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually the credit goes to Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla. for introducing this bill - not every proposed unconstitutional rights violation is the fault of the president, even in election season.

    5. Re:Yes, it's bad by Clirion · · Score: 2

      Actually it does not. This is NOT A BILL. It is a proposed change/regulation. It is supported by the passing of the Consolidated Appropriations Bill for 2016. That means, no bill or law needed, as it is under DHS control. DHS is controlled by Executive Branch.

  37. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the constitution does not apply, even to citizens, within the confines of international airports and anywhere within a certain distance of an international border or waters, etc... so they're a little iffy on the subject.. it should apply to all citizens or those who are not but are legally here, ANYWHERE on u.s. soil or territory, including airports, including near borders and international waters, and in embassies or other 'u.s. soil' located in foreign countries (military bases, etc). it should, but it dosen't.. because 'fuck you, we're doing what we want' says the gov't.

  38. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by Drishmung · · Score: 2

    When you're trying to enter the U.S. and are held up at Customs and Immigration, you are not yet considered to be on U.S. soil, so you do not enjoy the protection of U.S. Constitutional rights.

    Reductio ad absurdum So, non-citizens lacking any rights whatsoever, Customs & Immigration could happily kill them on a whim? You are not within the USA, so a lawless zone exists? Free-fire anyone?

    If you are not on U.S. soil, why do non-citizens need a visa to transit? Fly from Asia to Europe via the USA and you need a visa. Almost every other country simply provides a transit lounge where you wait while you change planes.

    It seems both obvious, and likely to withstand legal challenge, that when you are on the wrong side of the Customs & Immigration barrier, you are nevertheless under U.S. control, in U.S. jurisdiction, and under the mantle of the U.S. Constitution. You have not yet been admitted, according to due legal process, into the country. You might be denied entry, and sent back. You might be arrested because you are in fact a terrorist.

    I agree with you, the current issues with Guantanamo and the 100mi limit show what happens when people try to create places where the law doesn't apply to 'them' (because 'they' are the good guys).

    --
    Protoplasm. Quiet Protoplasm. I like quiet protoplasm.
  39. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by Drishmung · · Score: 1

    NO FOREIGN PERSON HAS ANY RIGHT TO ENTER THE US

    I'm not in any way disagreeing with this. I am simply refuting the misstatement that USA constitutional rights apply to citizens only.

    In the context of the debate, it might be a fine, geekish point, but once someone is in a line waiting to get into the country, they don't magically become a non-person, Once they are in the country, they are afforded full constitutional protection, even if they overstay their visa, or even entered under false pretences! The law, backed by the constitution, will allow for them to be tried, punished and removed.

    --
    Protoplasm. Quiet Protoplasm. I like quiet protoplasm.
  40. I don't use computers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't use computers, so I don't know what this social media stuff is all about that the kids are on about!!!
    (looks left and right)

  41. Interesting by thundercattt · · Score: 1

    How will they handle someone with no social media accounts. Search my name, number, email and you get 0 results. Toss me out of the country?

    1. Re:Interesting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How will they handle someone with no social media accounts. Search my name, number, email and you get 0 results. Toss me out of the country?

      What use is there in admitting nobodies?

  42. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

    If you're flying via Beijing and you don't already have a Chinese visa, the Chinese authorities will issue you one that's good for 1 day so you can move about the airport freely. Or, if your layover is long enough, you can take a cab into the city and mess around for a few hours.

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  43. well, for those are willing to face reality, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's Obama, not Trump, who has had that kill list and been droning all those people. For the first few years of his administration, the person running his foreign policies with him was Hillary Clinton.

    I do not post this as a pro-Trump thing, or as some baseless partisan anti-Clinton or anto-Obama thing. I post it because it is a basic FACT and one which the Clinton and Obama teams are happy to have the public avoid facing.

    Trump has never used government power to kill ANYBODY. Not being a Trump-bot, I will not assert that he never would. He has promised a muscular response to ISIS. Again: my Point is that one party always petends to be "good people" and always pretends the other party is a party of war mongers, so much so that I've lost count of the number of people I've heard tell me Trump is some psychopathic monster who is so morally repugnant and dangerous they could never vote for him, but who are happy they voted for Obama or are planning to vote for Hillary Clinton. People need to wake up and stop being sheep. Both parties have done some pretty harsh stuff, and in the real world some pretty harsh stuff is sometimes justified. It's insane, however, to rant and rave about one candidate using blunt/harsh/mean words while the other has actively used the government to kill with only dubious legal authority. If actual industrial mechanized automated DEATH is not a problem, then tough words are a joke as a political/voting issue.

  44. How is this news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I am a German citizen with a Turkish sounding last name and have been requested to provide my email used to login to Facebook and Twitter every time I entered the US in the last years. That is when they single me out at the border and immigration desk each time in the last five year, claim it is random, detain me for 45 minutes, 30 minutes of which is waiting for anything to happen, then ask the same questions each time such as: been traveling to Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq? Any friends there? Political affiliations of my parents? Social media login email addresses (they don't seem to need passwords)? What is my job and education?

    Even though they are seemingly friendly, any question on the why will immediately chill the atmosphere, letting the officer become cold in tone, threateningly often. I have learned not to oppose anything.

    There seem to be no rights in these situations. Fearing to miss connecting flights forces you to cooperate to the fullest, leaving a bad taste about civil liberties in your mouth.

    What is most infuriating to me is that it is always the same questions and the same fake friendlyness when I explain that I have a masters degree from a top American graduate school, lived in the US from 2003 to 2004 and am a startup founder...

    There should not be outrage about this, collecting social media accounts is already the norm. Just not for everyone...

    1. Re:How is this news? by Cederic · · Score: 1

      So turn it around on them. Tell them this silliness usually takes 30-45 minutes so can you have a comfy seat and a cup of coffee, they can run their checks and really isn't this a terribly waste of everybody's time.

  45. Don't blame Trump for Obama's policies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We get that you don't like Trump, but it's fucking ridiculous to pin a policy hatching under a Democratic president on Republican CANDIDATE Donald Trump. Have you no shame?

  46. Re: You have no rights when applying for entry to by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If I have zero rights it might be nice to tell me before I have flown 10 hours to the US and wasted a thousand bucks that you want to turn me back. I find it troubling that constitutional rights such as being equal in front of the law are not universal.

  47. so.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now Obama and Hillary Clinton and their pals have joined Trump on the list of people we all can call NAZIs now? After all, its Obama and his party, which Hillary is associated with and promises to be a third term of, that is doing this. Trump has very openly stated that he wants to secure the borders and seriously screen immigrants, and has been labelled a racist for this. I guess now that Obama is going after social media, it'll be perfectly fine for Trump to do it, right?

    I just want to keep my NAZI list up to date, so I know who I can acceptably slime with one of history's most odius titles.

    Incidentally, the first job of any government is, and long has been, to protect its citizens. As a result, most nations in modern history have had borders and have screened visitors and even said things like "papers, please!". That's just normal government, and NOT what was wrong with the NAZIs. Hint: it had something to do with invading other countries, genocide, death camps, looting of entire nations, and all the rest. The NAZI official saying "Papieren bitte" was scary because he was an agent of an evil national socialist regime known for repression and genocide looking at you suspiciously and might not end well for you.

  48. Consider it done. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now the plan is being called "ludicrous," an "all-around bad idea," "blatant overreach," "desperate, paranoid heavy-handedness," "preposterous," "appalling," and "un-American,"

    And thus is perfectly in line with the U.S. stance on surveillance. So it is sure to get implemented. I can only assume that the survey was done in order to get more data on dissenters, in order to more effectively police them in future and keep them from spreading their liberal poison.

  49. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, you can keep your trade.
    We can take our business elsewhere. Or then you just get to travel to our common meetings. No skin off our backs.
    It baffles me that USA would deliberately want to piss off the rest of the world, but hey - you are free to do so.

  50. I had an account, but it was hacked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    me: "I used to have the facebook ID uscis, but someone hacked it, changed the password, and are using it for their own nefarious purposes"
    officer: [goes off to check out the account...]

  51. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by jmcvetta · · Score: 1

    I had a 5 hour layover at Shanghai (PVG) last month. No visa of any sort required to move around the international terminal of the airport. Of course I'm pretty certain they would not have let me leave the airport - but definitely no transit visa involved just to change planes.

  52. Not me by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    Well, they lost me then, because I don't have any of those, I don't give away my privacy for connecting so somebody who had a locker beside me 30 years ago, I'm perfectly able to do that myself if I wanted to.

  53. Of course, but... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anger, denial, depression and ultimately, acceptance. Nothing we can do. Power is power and might is always right.

  54. The land of hurt fee-fees by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    America gets fucked every day as it is, why the actual hell would I waste money going to a rich shithole?

  55. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    This is only required if you need to change terminals or want to travel into the city.

    You can most definitely have a layover in Beijing and move around the airport without ever being issued a visa. This is standard practice in most of the world.

  56. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

    Different setup in Beijing where any meaningful interpretation of "moving about the airport" involves going out of doors between terminal buildings.

    Shanghai/Pudong seems like a much nicer airport, though (only been through there once). I particularly enjoyed the calligraphy shop and getting to watch and have a chat with the chief calligrapher as he worked.

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  57. Re: You have no rights when applying for entry to by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Speaking for the USA.

    The operative is *living amongst us*. And it's clear that living *with* us is different than *living in the same place as us*.

    Most western cultures have managed to integrate, adding their bits, and blending. Even the more insular Asian cultures have integrated. Has that caused pain? Absolutely. Indians have ABCD. (Look it up). But by the time immigrants grandkids are adults, they can claim *heritage*, not their identity. And this includes societies in Japan and Germany who the US nuked and fire bombed, respectively.

    But. It's apparent that a disproportionate percentage of middle eastern immigrants grandkids aren't being integrated into western society, which creates an us (the immigrants) vs them (the wests wide open society which tolerates and even sometimes welcomes newcomers, vs the society they came from).

    Until that's resolved, we'll be left with trying blunt tools like 'give me your social media ID' as a way to determine, amongst those who want to remain insular, which ones *living amongst us* hate us enough to walk into their workplace and kill their infidel co-workers.

    Ya really cannot argue with the 'disproportionate' logic. So instead of complaining about this arguably bad initiative, got a better idea to figure out the ones in the group who are *living amongst us* that hate the infidels so badly that they want to kill us?

  58. Re: So we won't go to the States if it can be avoi by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cool! I'm uninterested in visiting a countries where an adult cannot get a cold beer, and where women are treated differently than men. Or where the US Olympic committee has asked athletes not to go outside after dark given the likelihood that they'll be robbed.

    Sounds like you've made a great decision.

    The USA must really be a lousy place, that's why no one, like you, are trying to get in or visit.

  59. PR stunt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Obama administration has gotten flack for letting in people whose social media reveal them to be dangerous radicals. This is a rather clumsy PR stunt. Requiring foreign travelers to list their social media simply means they'll create an innocent-appearing one and point to it.

    It's yet another illustration of 'security theater'—doing things because they look good in the press not because they accomplish anything.

  60. Really does by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ... Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+, and whatever other social ID ...

    They're not asking for passwords, and given the power of the CIA/NSA/5eyes they don't need to. What this is really doing, is de-anonymizing social media: Every account is now linked to a person, with their real-world name and date of birth. (You didn't stupidly put the true value for both of those in your online profile did you?) Also linked, are your friends and colleagues on social media services.

    The correct answer is to create accounts just for use in the USA. And to not take a phone/tablet/laptop to the USA so that your personal data / contacts / history / emails / messages can't be copied or confiscated. I imagine some people can't survive a few weeks without Facebook and Twitter, so hidden access is required, such as a VPN, which is too complex for the average user. In that case, set the fake account to follow your real account. A good alternative is to have a family member change the password on your actual accounts, without telling you, and to forward messages to your fake account.

  61. What is a social media? by Kindaian · · Score: 1

    In the first place...

  62. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by spire3661 · · Score: 1

    Guantanamo Bay is a nice little 'fuck you' to your theory. In practice, the Constitution is selective in its protection of foreigners.

    --
    Good-bye
  63. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, its ridiculous, because as there are so many ports of entry into the US.. it would essentially eliminate ALL constitutional rights.

    Folks, there is a International Airport in the middle of freaking Nebraska and another in Kansas.. (ie: the middle of the continental US). So a 100 mile bubble around all international airports and ship ports essentially means zero protection for anyone. The US doesn't have international airports exclusively on the coasts.

  64. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, there are two visa types..

    One is a 72 hour visa intended for VERY short stays.. this one is intended for you flying into and out of a Chinese city, but not necessarily the same city.

    The other is a Direct Transit visa (good for 24 hours), so you can see the city a little, but you must be entering and leaving from the SAME airport. Both are issued upon arrival and upon request. (with no promises of approvals for each since they are granted on the spot).

    Anything else requires a standard entry visa. (I go to china a LOT)

  65. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

    All constitutional rights (unless otherwise indicated) apply to US Nationals.

    Nope. Go read the bill of rights. None of those amendments say "unless you're not a citizen."

    -jcr

    Nope, it says we the people. There is a big discussion about this in the federalist papers. The Bill of Rights were put in specifically to say what the government can't do to the citizens. Such as take their guns from them. Such as silencing the press. Such as making them a witness against themselves.

    Take the liberal crap elsewhere. You probably also think a child born in the US is automatically a US Citizen as well. That's not true. More leftist fairy dust.

  66. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by Drishmung · · Score: 1
    Except, that it is in fact illegal, as pointed out above

    Let's not get into a debate over what assorted government agencies do on a regular basis that is, in fact, illegal.

    --
    Protoplasm. Quiet Protoplasm. I like quiet protoplasm.
  67. Wow...so the breaking point is Social Media? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Invasion after invasion of the privacy of actual US Citizens has occurred at the hands of our government in the pursuit of 'safety' but the outrage comes from potentially asking foreign travellers for their social media user names?

    This is fucking astonishing.....

  68. Re: You have no rights when applying for entry to by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its not a matter of 'if you will commit a crime'. It's a matter of 'when will you commit a crime'

    There is a video of an old FBI guy who gave a talk at blackhat or defcon a few years back. He said something along the lines of "if i look at anyone for long enough, ill catch them doing something illegal" and he was right.

  69. Bad timing by OhHellWithIt · · Score: 1

    I really hate it when the news articles about this kind of crap come out after the request for comment period has expired.

    --
    "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." -- George Orwell
  70. lets stamp out every last tourist by 0111+1110 · · Score: 1

    Right. Because there was still that one guy who kept coming back to the US for a holiday. Let's make sure that guy never comes back. He's a nuisance and takes away airline seats from everyone else who has no choice but to go to the US for some reason. Airline seats are scarce and precious. Let's keep them as empty as possible. To be fair I guess it does make their jobs easier to keep tourists away.

    --
    Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
  71. Former convicted felon here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So as a former bank robber, I cannot get the hazmat CDL. Transportation companies are desperate for drivers (especially hazmat), I am desperate for a good paying job, but we cannot get together on this. Certainly there are other driver jobs, but I don't really need any more obstacles thrown in front of me.
    Yeah, I know I put myself in this position, but I'm here now, and I'm trying not to reoffend, I'm trying to do the right thing.

    1. Re:Former convicted felon here by Anonymous+Cow+Ward · · Score: 1

      Not being sarcastic here - good for you! I hope you can find something soon. I think most people agree that it's better to rehabilitate criminals and make them into productive members of society. But too few people want to be the ones to take that perceived risk themselves, and the government rarely makes it easier for them to.

      --
      Examine even your most deeply held beliefs. Nobody is always right.
  72. Violation of US treaties with Canada and EU by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    This is a direct violation of the international treaties the US signed with Canada and the EU, Australia and New Zealand, and Japan.

    Other countries ... meh.

    But you can't do that by treaty.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  73. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    Either you're really bad at sarcasm, or you don't know what you're talking about.

    Anyone born in the US is a US citizen, according to the Fourteenth Amendment. I haven't noticed that part of the Fourteenth being repealed by another Amendment.

    While the Bill of Rights may have been intended to protect US citizens, it doesn't limit itself to them. A person from another country can't be required to incriminate himself or herself, for example.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  74. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    The law allows the US government to expel people who are not US citizens and are here illegally, and that's a significantly lower barrier than would be required to convict and punish them.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  75. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by david_thornley · · Score: 1

    The idea behind the Constitution was that it provided the Federal government with assorted legal powers and responsibilities, and that therefore the Feds could not do anything not authorized by the Constitution. Therefore, there's no such thing as something the US government runs that's not subject to the Constitution, since either the Feds have no power to run it or they're bound by the Constitution.

    The drone killings of US citizens are done on the basis that there's a war on, and that it's not necessary to conduct a trial before killing an enemy in war. If they're a member of a hostile military force, they're legal targets no matter what else might be true about them. US citizens abroad who have not taken up arms in the service of a foreign power need not worry.

    --
    "When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
  76. Requested by whom? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    From the original story, it seems that the request came from within the US Customs and Border Protection agency:

    "The US 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."

    Does anyone have more info showing that this idea came from Obama or his administration?

  77. Re:You have no rights when applying for entry to a by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

    Could be way more than you ever wanted to know and you'll have to do some reading to understand this.

    Very common misconception. Especially people that read a little law. I know what I'm talking about. Referring to the 14th Amendment by itself tells me you don't. Otherwise, you wouldn't have mentioned it. See a lawyer (not a whacked out crazy one...sometimes known as an ACLU lawyer). Until then, consider:

    The Constitution, Federalist papers, USSC Decisions:
    The Slaughterhouse Cases 83 U.S. 36 (1873)
    Minor v. Happersett 88 U.S. 162 (1874)
    Elk v. Wilkins 112 U.S. 94 (1884)
    Wong Kim Ark Case, 169 U.S. 649 (1898)
    Perkins v. Elg, 307 U. S. 325 (1939)

    As you can see from the intent of the Founding Fathers to the Supreme Court decision that “a natural born” is the child of citizens. A natural born citizen is not the child of an alien. In this there is no doubt. Only the crazy left keep trying to mislead people that don't know any better. The 14th Amendment was intended to make citizens of slaves and that was clear. Otherwise, what are they? Some could technically still be from some other country and not necessarily from some African country. The Arabs took slaves from all around there, even England, Spain, Portugal, Italy. It's the Arabs that came up with slavery BTW. Not "white people."

    I'll say Mexican below, however you can also substitute your favorite alien - Canadian, Nigeria (Nigerian Prince with money for you), etc.
    As for the Constitution applying to foreigners, it depends. I was poking with a stick. The rights that are specified to just citizens, don't apply to foreigners. That's very clear. For example a Mexican national cannot run for office. You'd think all the Constitutional Amendments would apply, however you'd be wrong. For example the 1st Amendment does, I don't think there is any argument on that one by anyone. What about the 2nd Amendment? Can a Mexican buy a gun in the US legally? Hell, I couldn't buy one two states away. Unless my state touched that other state, forgetaboutit.