US could order UK tourists to reveal web passwords
BRITISH visitors to the US could be forced to hand over their mobile phones and reveal their social media passwords if they want to get in.
Following President Donald Trump’s ‘extreme vetting’ orders, Homeland Security officials have revealed plans to greatly step up visa demands for tourists, as well as refugees and aspiring immigrants.
This might involve applicants being quizzed on their political views, having phone contacts examined and disclosing financial records.
Insiders say the proposals could be extended to visitors from the 38 countries – including the UK, Australia, France and Germany – that participate in the Visa Waiver Programme.
The current system is designed to make it easier for people from friendly countries to enter the US by providing limited personal information online before travelling.
Although the application process already gives visitors the option of volunteering which social media sites they use, the procedures under discussion would be compulsory – and far more draconian. The measures come under a security review being conducted by the Trump administration after the US President, pictured, vowed to introduce ‘extreme vetting’ to bar terrorists from entry.
As part of a ‘rigorous evaluation’ of whether arrivals support terrorism or pose a danger to the public, they may be asked to hand over their mobile phones so their stored contacts and other information can be examined.
Some visitors have previously had phones examined when they arrive in the country but it has never been a routine request at the application stage. The goal is to ‘figure out who you are communicating with’, a senior Homeland Security official told the Wall Street Journal. ‘What you can get on the average person’s phone can be invaluable,’ he added.
Homeland Security officials have reportedly experimented by examining visitors’ public posts on sites such as Facebook and Twitter but want to extend scrutiny to what they message friends in private.
John Kelly, the Homeland Security Secretary, told a congressional hearing in February: ‘We want to say for instance, “What sites do you visit? And give us your passwords”, so we can see what they do on the internet ... if they don’t give us that information then they don’t come.’
Sceptics have said the US would not have the manpower to check visitors’ phones and internet activity on anything but a very selective basis. Attempting to access visitors’ phone and online information is a strategy that was initially explored by the Obama administration.
Leon Rodriguez, who ran the US Citizenship and Immigration Services under the last government, warned that such time- consuming measures could prove pointless.
Real terrorists would simply swap their phones for one free of any incriminating evidence, he said. However, officials believe getting suspects’ phone contacts alone could help to crack terrorist networks.
The Trump administration’s attempt to impose a temporary ban on visitors from mainly Muslim countries has twice been blocked by federal judges and is now on hold as it goes through the courts.