Border Security Asks Visitors for Social Media Accounts

Social media started innocently enough. But over its decades of use, it has had too many privacy issues to count. Here’s a new one: starting in late 2016, the United States started using social media checks to secure its borders. Border security — and terrorist screening — in the United States has recently become more secure. Before entering the border, some travelers are required to hand over details about their social media accounts. Keep reading to find out what you need to know about the checks.

While these social media checks might seem like violations of privacy, there’s nothing private about the Internet. Protect your right to privacy by locking apps, images, and files on your device with a password. Click below to lock your apps and create passwords for your apps (like Facebook), texts, and contacts:

Read More: Do Social Networks Respect Your Privacy?

What is the purpose of the checks?

The goal is to screen for terrorists by checking social media accounts for suspicious activity and radical sympathizers. The Department of Homeland Security proposed the idea in the summer of 2016, and the checks began later in the year.

Who is being targeted?

US citizens do not have to have their social media checked. Instead, citizens of 32 specific countries who arrive in the United States under the “visa waiver program” will be the targets of the check. This program is an online tool that lets certain short-term travelers skip formally applying for a visa. Most of those 32 countries are in Europe, and do not apply to Canadian or Mexican travelers.   

What social media networks are being screened?

Some travelers are asked to show their presence on websites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Other more obscure channels might also be screened. Some of these include Flickr, Vine, and JustPaste.It — a tool popular with ISIS — to name a few. Other social media channels that are screened are those that are popular in the home countries of those entering the US. These include VKontake, Russia’s Facebook, for example. A massively popular app that is the exception to the checks is Snapchat.

What are some problems with the program?

One problem of note is, of course, the violation of travelers’ privacy, as personal information is often revealed on these platforms. Further, Homeland Security can share this information with other departments. Others suggest that the program has little likelihood of improving security: most terrorists now — remember that ISIS members used to love Twitter — are unlikely to divulge their intentions on social media.