Overview
- CBP’s Federal Register notice proposes adding five years of social-media handles to mandatory ESTA fields for travelers from 42 Visa Waiver countries, with officials saying only public data would be reviewed and no passwords requested.
- The draft would also collect phone numbers from the past five years, email addresses from the past 10 years, and detailed information on immediate relatives.
- Officials describe the filing as preliminary, with no immediate changes in effect and a 60-day window for public comments.
- The U.S. Travel Association warns of a chilling effect on tourism as civil-liberties groups denounce the scope; key operational details such as platform coverage and review methods remain unresolved.
- Some outlets report the change could start February 8, though agencies have not finalized or confirmed any start date.