Previously the State Department had required only visitors to the US who where coming from specific regions to turn over more social control media information. Now Engadget and CNN tell of the following proposed changes which are now posted in the Federal Register and entering their 60 period for public comment.
From Engadget:
In documents that the department will file to the Federal Register tomorrow [ed: 2018-03-30], it proposes that nearly every individual applying for a US visa be required to hand over any social media handles used on certain platforms in the past five years as well as submit any telephone numbers and email addresses used during that same time period.
The State Department will accept public comments until near the end of May.
Sources:
Engadget: US visa applications may soon require five years of social media info
CNN: US to require would-be immigrants to turn over social media handles
[ed: no actual DS-160 or DS-156 forms seem to be available for download or review.
https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/visa-information-resources/forms/ds-160-online-nonimmigrant-visa-application.html ]
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Daniel Stenberg, author of the ubiquitous URL fetcher cURL and the libcurl multiprotocol file transfer library, and recipient of the 2017 Polheim Prize, has been blocked again from attending a US-based conference. Daniel has written a post in his blog about his two-year odyssey through the byzantine US bureaucracy to try to get permission to attend a work-related conference in California. He has been in the US nine times previously but despite pages of paperwork, hundreds of dollars in fees, and personal visits to the embassy, no dice. As a result the conference will have to move outside the US and probably Canada too if it wants to stay open to the world's top talent.
Earlier on SN:
US Visa Applications May Soon Require Five Years of Social Media Info (2018)
Reducing Year 2038 Problems in curl (2018)
cURL turns Seventeen Today (2015)
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 01 2018, @08:04PM (14 children)
Be friendly. Stop antagonizing the rest of the world; make friendship far more productive than revenge.
Be realistic. Get rid of the welfare state; the people coming to the U.S. need to be productive people who want to pay their own way and thereby contribute to society.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 01 2018, @08:16PM
Then you will have moral standing for not having other religious nutjobs come here and expect you to conform to their beliefs just like you made the natives here conform to yours.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 01 2018, @08:47PM (12 children)
In what reality is the US a welfare state... Oh wait today is April 1st.
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Arik on Sunday April 01 2018, @09:08PM (7 children)
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 5, Informative) by captain normal on Monday April 02 2018, @12:22AM (2 children)
The Heritage Foundation??? Come on man you can't seriously fall for (nor expect any reasonable person to fall for) this half baked crap. These guys are paid shills for the likes of the Koch brothers, Rupert Murdoch and the Mercers. You must be on the payroll on these anti-American bunch of Criminals.
The Musk/Trump interview appears to have been hacked, but not a DDOS hack...more like A Distributed Denial of Reality.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @12:24AM (1 child)
Then identify and rectify a foundational false claim they make.
ad hominem doesn't sway rational people.
(Score: 0, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @06:32AM
Then identify and rectify a foundational false claim they make.
"real per capita social welfare in the United States is larger than in almost all other countries"
The Heritage Foundation is a bunch of liars
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @12:33AM (2 children)
That's an interesting way of looking at it.
So why then is the American welfare state so fucking wasteful compared to other first world countries?
Oh yeah, I forget. #1: government can't do anything right, therefore #2: create programs designed to fail, and #3: pork pork pork pork pork pork PORK pork!
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday April 02 2018, @02:49AM
So #1 was right, eh? Funny how the critics get blamed for the process.
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Monday April 02 2018, @07:04PM
The SPAM corporation would officially like to register a complaint. SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM SPAM, and egg.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 2) by Dr Spin on Monday April 02 2018, @08:10AM
I think you mis-spelled "warfare state".
Warning: Opening your mouth may invalidate your brain!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 01 2018, @10:43PM (1 child)
That's according to the Cato Institute, in 2014 or the like.
The Federal Government alone spends upwards of $700 billion per year.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @12:31AM
Ah, so by your metric the US should ACTUALLY be called a "warfare state".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @12:53AM (1 child)
Don't forget the armies of meth-cookers in Middle America that collect Social Security Disability payments.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @05:27AM
Meth cooking is just free market at work.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by inertnet on Sunday April 01 2018, @08:15PM (22 children)
I don't have any social media accounts. I used to have a Facebook account but suspended that (couldn't delete it) after about 10 years of inactivity.
I wonder if that's an option on the visa application: no social media.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 01 2018, @08:18PM (1 child)
terrorist watchlist, since anti-consumerist behavior is the same as being a terrorist. You're scaring them into thinking they can't monetize you and that is downright unamerican and a threat to their way of life!
I wish I were kidding.
Be a true patriot and show how much of a consumerist whore you are today! Doing otherwise would be unamerican!
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 01 2018, @11:26PM
If I need a visa to visit the US I'm unAmerican by definition... and I'm already a true patriot of my country (I understand that your comment was given in - what's the word for "I wish this was just sarcasm but it's accurate"?).
(Score: 5, Insightful) by FatPhil on Sunday April 01 2018, @08:29PM (8 children)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Sunday April 01 2018, @10:14PM (7 children)
Yes, please stay away. (No disrespect intended). Financial punishment is the only thing the US government understands.
There is a 20 Billion Monthly INFLOW of travel related expenditures by visitors to the US.
This is balanced by a 15 Billion Dollar Monthly OUTFLOW of money to other countries when US citizens travel abroad.
https://travel.trade.gov/outreachpages/download_data_table/Monthly_Exports_Imports_Balance.xlsx [trade.gov] (yes, its a spread sheet FCS).
Shut off the Inflow, (or damp it down a bunch), and guess who loses: US travel industry and the tax authorities.
While the US has had a 5 billion dollar monthly balance of travel related trade surplus for years, this dropped by 17.8% from 2016 to 2017. Apparently that wasn't enough for anyone to get the message.
The Grand Canyon will still be there when this nonsense passes.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Gaaark on Monday April 02 2018, @12:47AM (1 child)
"The Grand Canyon will still be there when this nonsense passes."
But will Yellowstone?
:0
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. I have always been here. ---Gaaark 2.0 --
(Score: 3, Funny) by Runaway1956 on Monday April 02 2018, @09:00AM
Well, yes, of course it will still be there. You may reasonably expect some remodeling, with possibly the addition of a mountain and/or crater. But, it will still be there!
We're gonna be able to vacation in Gaza, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and maybe Minnesota soon. Incredible times.
(Score: 2) by tonyPick on Monday April 02 2018, @08:32AM (2 children)
You, sir, are an optimist. The tweet "Nuclear wars are good, and easy to win" wouldn't even qualify as the dumbest thing to come out of the current administration this _week_.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @05:51PM
And its only Monday...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @09:46PM
That's Trade Wars dumbass. They make is so easy to shit upon them and you still fucked it up.
(Score: 2) by shortscreen on Monday April 02 2018, @09:36AM
While this policy is dumb and the US gov deserves to have it blow up in their faces, most of the tourism dollars are probably coming from people who don't even need to apply for a visa. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Waiver_Program [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Monday April 02 2018, @03:30PM
Yeah, um...about that.
Trump Slashes Size of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase Monuments [nytimes.com]
Guess we'd better hope they don't discover oil in the Grand Canyon.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 01 2018, @08:31PM (6 children)
But they know from fb data reports that you indeed have an account. Then they deny your visa.
Up to you whether coming to America is that important to you or not. Other countries like China and Russia are annoying to get visas for, so I don't go.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 01 2018, @08:35PM (4 children)
You have the option of coming without a visa by taking a tunnel from Mexico. Eventually you dreamer will get amnesty, then citizenship.
(Score: 2) by chromas on Sunday April 01 2018, @10:18PM (2 children)
The wall just got ten feet higher.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @12:34AM
For the first time in history we have a method of accurately calculating a person's intelligence. By some odd twist it involves the measuring of fictitious walls, but that just opens up a ton of opportunities for more research grants. Everyone is quite excited.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @06:30PM
Lol. The wall will never even be completed, much less improved.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @03:27PM
For those modding this Flamebait and Troll...is this not literally exactly what the liberals are proposing?
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Sunday April 01 2018, @08:49PM
France too, on occasion.
🌻🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by JoeMerchant on Sunday April 01 2018, @08:41PM (2 children)
Soylent is social media....
🌻🌻🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 01 2018, @08:47PM
Just don't put AC on the application. They'll think you are one fast typing schizophrenic.
(Score: 0, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @12:12AM
Then the term "social media" is useless, since SN shares very little in common with massive surveillance engines like Facebook.
(Score: 5, Touché) by wonkey_monkey on Sunday April 01 2018, @11:32PM
by inertnet (4071)
systemd is Roko's Basilisk
(Score: 4, Interesting) by MostCynical on Sunday April 01 2018, @09:04PM
i would have a hard time remembering every email from every contract job I've had in the last five years. Some places issue emails your.name@ as well as yname@, y.name@ but you only ever use one of them. Which ones count?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 4, Insightful) by frojack on Sunday April 01 2018, @10:17PM (2 children)
Does a Soylentnews account qualify as social media?
What about those throw away email accounts I "used" to order something or post something? I often create a separate email account for each mailing list, or forum I visit. I've got 15 emails in my password vault, and a lot more webmail accounts that I don't even bother to record, which I use for a few days/weeks on some tech support issue or similar sites, and then forget about them. You used to be able to get a gmail, yahoo, or hotmail account in 15 seconds flat with no linkage to any other email.
I've had a dozen different phone numbers, depending on which customer I was working with in the last 5 years.
The Government seldom asks a question they don't already know the answer to.
So you forget ONE such address/number, and their computers match you, and you've committed a crime of omission just by filling out the form.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 2) by BsAtHome on Sunday April 01 2018, @11:56PM
But of course! You are always guilty of something. Better make sure a triviality brings you down easily. Saves the authorities all that construction of circumstances.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by captain normal on Monday April 02 2018, @03:48AM
This is just for people from other countries who want to visit the US...for now. They'll get around to dealing with current residents soon.
The Musk/Trump interview appears to have been hacked, but not a DDOS hack...more like A Distributed Denial of Reality.
(Score: 2) by srobert on Sunday April 01 2018, @10:18PM (4 children)
... 'cause I don't think they'd ever let me in based on just stuff I've written right here on Soylentnews, let alone the more radical sites I comment at.
(Score: 2) by Weasley on Sunday April 01 2018, @11:42PM
Well definitely now that you just called yourself out.
(Score: 2) by BsAtHome on Sunday April 01 2018, @11:53PM (2 children)
It is not too late for the authorities to deport you. Haven't you heard, your rights have gone and nobody noticed.
(Score: 2) by srobert on Monday April 02 2018, @02:21PM (1 child)
Where will they deport me to? I was born in Indiana.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @03:32PM
They have this little place in Cuba for people like you
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Sunday April 01 2018, @10:51PM (5 children)
I routinely visit Canada, both for work and to visit friends. I have noticed a distinct increase in security and suspicion when crossing into Eastern Canada, though the borders in Western Canada are still relatively low key. Crossing into Mexico is a breeze, but coming back is a royal pain in the ass. The trips I make into Algadonez have decreased greatly. I still have to go every 2 or 3 months to get medications for my parents and as much as the hassle has increased the cost savings still makes it a benefit. Were are talking several hundred $'s for some of the medications.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Monday April 02 2018, @03:48AM (2 children)
" Estados Unidos! "
A Mexican U.S. Citizen with a sense of humor I know tried that coming from Mexicali once. They tore his car apart.
(Score: 2) by captain normal on Monday April 02 2018, @03:53AM
We no longer allow a sense of humor in here in Trumpistain.
The Musk/Trump interview appears to have been hacked, but not a DDOS hack...more like A Distributed Denial of Reality.
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Monday April 02 2018, @07:21PM
Funny, my pool guy is a US citizen who lives in Mexico because of the cost difference. He spends a couple of hours each day coming over the border but he says the cost difference is still worth it. His house in Mexico is awesome, he has full service plus security, but the fact that he needs armed security is sort of a downer.
Hola Salvador...
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 4, Touché) by srobert on Monday April 02 2018, @02:24PM (1 child)
Time to build a border wall along the southern border to keep the barbarians out... of Canada.
(Score: 2) by archfeld on Monday April 02 2018, @06:58PM
That would suck almost as much as the stupid wall we are building to the south. I need access to good skiing on a regular basis or I become blue, ehh.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @01:16AM (7 children)
I don't remember my passwords and I don't bring them when I travel
- I have them written down at home only
(Score: 2) by frojack on Monday April 02 2018, @03:31AM (3 children)
There's no indication they are asking for your passwords.
They just want to be able to trawl through mountains of captured email and social media posts to find out what you said and who you said it to. They've been gathering that shit for decades.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @05:28AM (2 children)
Correction: They already have been trawling, and just want to confirm the match.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @03:35PM (1 child)
Yes, they have. They went through a woman's emails on arrival in Hawaii, found out that she was meeting her fiance and that she had quit her job so roughly deported her on suspicion of trying to enter the country to stay illegally.
She was planning on marrying her fiance.
Think about this for a moment.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @09:49PM
Yeah, I like to make up stories too.
(Score: 2) by boltronics on Monday April 02 2018, @04:01AM (2 children)
They're asking for handles, not passwords (yet).
It's GNU/Linux dammit!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 02 2018, @08:52AM (1 child)
Except aren't they asking for passwords also from people coming from certain countries?
(Score: 2) by boltronics on Tuesday April 03 2018, @03:51AM
I question if they even need passwords, since it seems there's a focus on specific websites, which are probably all US-based.
It's GNU/Linux dammit!