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Every US immigrant's social media history is up for grabs starting Oct. 18.

The US Department of Homeland Security quietly introduced a proposed amendment to its records regulations last week that would allow the agency to collect data from all immigrants' social media history, including posts from their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. It would also affect green card holders and naturalized citizens. The new provision, introduced to the Federal Register on Sept. 18, was first spotted by Buzzfeed News.

The update adds to increased government scrutiny of immigrants' internet activity, scrutiny that's been growing since the administration of President Barack Obama and has continued into the presidency of Donald Trump. On Sept. 13, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the DHS after 11 travelers had their laptops and phones searched without warrants at US borders. It's been reported that border agents have also been checking people's Facebook profiles. The US Department of State said in May that it wanted to search through five years of social media history to grant US visas. (However, border patrol agents said in July that they wouldn't search through a person's cloud data.)

Last week's regulatory update appears to continue the collection and retention of data on immigrants' social media activity long after they've crossed the border. The rules would amass data on all immigrants, including green card holders and naturalized citizens, and contain details like handles, aliases and search results. Homeland Security could also collect data on anybody who communicates with an immigrant, according to BuzzFeed.

The update, which is still proposed and open to public comment, focuses on what kinds of information are kept in an immigrant's "A-file," or Alien File. According to the Department of Homeland Security, it was already collecting the information listed in the regulatory amendment.

"This amendment does not represent a new policy," Homeland Security said in a statement. "DHS, in its law enforcement and immigration process capacity, has and continues to monitor publicly available social media to protect the homeland. In an effort to be transparent, to comply with existing regulations, and due to updates in the electronic immigration system, DHS decided to update its corresponding Privacy Act system of records."

While some people view their social media profiles as a haven for friends and family, government officials see them as a cache of data they can use to decide if a person is a national threat. That's raising privacy concerns.

"This Privacy Act notice makes clear that the government intends to retain the social media information of people who have immigrated to this country, singling out a huge group of people to maintain files on what they say," said Faiz Shakir, national policy director of the ACLU. "This would undoubtedly have a chilling effect on the free speech that's expressed every day on social media."

What's more, the wording of the Homeland Security notice leaves a lot of questions unanswered, legal experts said.

For example, the notice says Homeland Security will collect information on immigrants' "search results," but it doesn't specify what that means. It could simply mean what pops up when the government searches for an immigrant's social media handle, but the document doesn't say.

What's more, the updated rules apply to naturalized citizens, not just new visa applicants. "That just seems crazy to me," said Jill Bronfman, privacy law expert at UC Hastings College of the Law. "I don't know of very many incidences in the law in which we make a distinction between naturalized citizens and [native born citizens]."

And even though Homeland Security says its notice doesn't amount to a new policy, Electronic Frontier Foundation senior staff attorney Adam Schwartz said the wording doesn't make it clear exactly what information Homeland Security is collecting, or on whom. "We remain uncertain what the DHS is doing, and concerned," he wrote in an email.

Despite all the demand for social media information, little is known about how effective it is. The DHS reviewed its pilot program for social media screening in February, and said "it is not clear DHS is measuring and evaluating the pilots' results to determine how well they are performing against set criteria."

First published Sept. 26, 11:39 a.m. PT.

Updates, 1:26 p.m. PT: adds a comment from the ACLU and 4:35 p.m. PT: adds comments from the DHS and legal experts.

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The Smartest Stuff: Innovators are thinking up new ways to make you, and the things around you, smarter.</s>Every US immigrant's social media history is up for grabs starting Oct. 18.

The Department of Homeland Security quietly introduced a new regulation last week that would allow the agency to collect data from all immigrants' social media history, including posts from their Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. It would also affect green card holders and naturalized citizens. The new provision, introduced to the Federal Register on Sept. 18, was first spotted by Buzzfeed News.

The rules surrounding privacy can blur at US borders, especially if immigrants are involved. Digital privacy at the borders has increasingly become an issue for immigrants trying to enter the US. Border patrol agents said in July that they wouldn't search through a person's cloud data. On Sept. 13, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation sued the DHS after 11 travelers had their laptops and phones searched without warrants at US borders. It's been reported that border agents have also been checking people's Facebook profiles. The State Department in May said it wanted to search through five years of social media history to grant US visas.

While some people view their social media profiles as a haven for friends and family, government officials see it as a cache of data they can use to decide if a person is a national threat. That's raising privacy concerns.

The new regulation would amass a database of all immigrants, including green card holders and naturalized citizens, and contain details like handles, aliases and search results on social media. The DHS could also collect data on anybody that communicates with an immigrant, according to BuzzFeed.

The DHS didn't respond to a request for comment.

Despite all the demand for social media information, it's unclear how effective it actually is. The DHS reviewed its pilot program for social media screening in February, and said "it is not clear DHS is measuring and evaluating the pilots' results to determine how well they are performing against set criteria."

CNET Magazine: Check out a sample of the stories in CNET's newsstand edition.

The Smartest Stuff: Innovators are thinking up new ways to make you, and the things around you, smarter.</s>The US Department of Homeland Security is planning to collect social media information and search results of all immigrants entering the country, including green card holders and naturalised citizens. According to a new rule published by the DHS in the Federal Register last week, the agency plans to expand "the categories of records" collected to include "social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information and search results" as part of their "A-file" or Alien immigration file, BuzzFeed first reported.

It also plans to "update record source categories to include publicly available obtained from the internet... and information obtained and disclosed pursuant to information sharing agreements." The new provision is set to go into effect starting 18 October following a public comment period.

The new rule comes after the DHS announced new aviation security measures for all international flights into the US to avoid expanding the controversial laptop ban. These included "heightened screening" of all electronic devices and travellers, increasing security protocols around aircraft and within passenger areas, expanding canine screening and establishing more pre-clearance locations.

In May, the US government approved a stringent new questionnaire for US visa applicants that requests them to divulge five years worth of social media handles, email addresses and phone numbers along with all prior passport numbers, 15 years worth of address, employment and travel history, source of funding for their travel and information about their siblings, children, current and former spouses or civil or domestic partners.

However, the new rule, if applied, would go beyond potential immigrants and visitors to the US and would apply to those who are already permanent residents, have obtained a green card or gone through the naturalisation process. It could also potentially affect US citizens who have communicated with immigrants as well.

In a statement to CNET, Homeland Security said the rule "does not represent a new policy".

"DHS, in its law enforcement and immigration process capacity, has and continues to monitor publicly available social media to protect the homeland," the agency said. "In an effort to be transparent, to comply with existing regulations, and due to updates in the electronic immigration system, DHS decided to update its corresponding Privacy Act system of records."

Immigration experts and privacy groups have already voiced their concerns over the new proposed rule and questioned its effectiveness in terms of national security.

"This Privacy Act notice makes clear that the government intends to retain the social media information of people who have immigrated to this country, singling out a huge group of people to maintain files on what they say," Faiz Shakir, national political director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a statement. "This would undoubtedly have a chilling effect on the free speech that's expressed every day on social media.

"This collect-it-all approach is ineffective to protect national security and is one more example of the Trump administration's anti-immigrant agenda."</s>WASHINGTON - The Department of Homeland Security is planning to start collecting social media information on all immigrants, including permanent residents and naturalized citizens.

According to a BuzzFeed News report, the new rule is set to go into effect on October 18th. It would include social media handles and aliases.

"We see this as part of a larger process of high-tech surveillance of immigrants and more and more people being subjected to social media screening," Adam Schwartz, an attorney with Electronic Frontier Foundation which advocates privacy and free expression, told BuzzFeed News. "There's a growing trend at the Department of Homeland Security to be snooping on the social media of immigrants and foreigners and we think it's an invasion of privacy and deters freedom of speech."

BuzzFeed says the new rule could also affect US citizens who communicate with immigrants on social media.</s>The Department of Homeland Security is proposing to expand the files it collects on immigrants, as well as some citizens, by including more online data—most notably search results and social media information—about each individual.

The plan, which would cover data like Facebook posts or Google results, is set out in the Federal Register , where the government publishes forthcoming regulations. A final version is set to go into effect on Oct. 18.

The plan, reported by BuzzFeed , is notable partly because it permits the government to amass information not only about recent immigrants, but also on green card holders and naturalized Americans as well.

The proposal to collect social media data is set out in a part of the draft regulation that describes expanding the content of so-called "Alien Files," which serve as detailed profiles of individual immigrants, and are used by everyone from border agents to judges. Here is the relevant portion:

The proposal follows new rules by the Trump Administration that require visitors from certain countries to disclose their social media handles, and allow border agents to view their list of phone contacts .

Those earlier measures alarmed civil rights advocates who questioned whether they would do much to improve security, and worried other countries would introduce similar screening of Americans. In response to the latest effort to collect social media data, the American Civil Liberties Union warned of a "chilling effect."

“This Privacy Act notice makes clear that the government intends to retain the social media information of people who have immigrated to this country, singling out a huge group of people to maintain files on what they say. This would undoubtedly have a chilling effect on the free speech that’s expressed every day on social media," the group said in a statement.

The new rules are currently subject to a comment period until Oct. 18 but, if they go into effect as planned, they will add yet more data to "Alien Files" that can already contain information such as fingerprints, travel histories, and health, and education records.

Such repositories provide powerful intelligence-gathering tools, but brings potential privacy risks such as government surveillance or cyber-attacks.</s>The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is expanding the kinds of information that it collects on immigrants to include social media information and search results. The new policy, which covers immigrants who have obtained a green card and even naturalized citizens, will take effect on October 18th.



First spotted by Buzzfeed News, the announcement from the Trump regime was published in the Federal Register. The new policy will not only allow DHS to collect information about an immigrant’s Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts, but it also mentions all “search results.” It’s not immediately clear if that means the agency will have access to things such as Google search histories nor is it clear how that would be obtained.

The new policy includes 12 points of expansion on what DHS is allowed to collect, but numbers 5 and 11 seem to be the most alarming in their ability to reach inside the digital lives of immigrants to the US and anyone who interacts with those immigrants.

The Department of Homeland Security, therefore, is updating the “Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Customs and Border Protection-001 Alien File, Index, and National File Tracking System of Records notice to: (5) expand the categories of records to include the following: country of nationality; country of residence; the USCIS Online Account Number; social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results; and the Department of Justice (DOJ), Executive Office for Immigration Review and Board of Immigration Appeals proceedings information (11) update record source categories to include publicly available information obtained from the internet, public records, public institutions, interviewees, commercial data providers, and information obtained and disclosed pursuant to information sharing agreements;

The term “information sharing agreements” isn’t defined in the policy, but it could conceivably cover both the types of surveillance agreements that the US has with countries like the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand under Five Eyes, as well as the agreements that DHS has with companies like Google and internet service providers.

As Buzzfeed points out, collecting this kind of information would also have a dramatic impact on every single person that interacts with immigrants to the US, since it would seemingly make all of their conversations on social media subject to surveillance. In the interest of full disclosure, yours truly is married to a US green card holder, so not only will my wife be subjected to this new rule, conceivably I will as well.

The Department of Homeland Security’s US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment. We will update this post when we hear back.</s>The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will expand the categories of records it collects on immigrants to include social media data.

In a new rule listed in the Federal Register and set to go into effect October 18, DHS will make “social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results” part of an immigrant's official record. The rule will apply to new immigrants as well as naturalized citizens and permanent residents.

In what it said was an attempt to spot terrorists, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) had already amended Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form to request information on immigrants' online personas.

The current “Privacy Act notice makes clear that the government intends to retain the social media information of people who have immigrated to this country, singling out a huge group of people to maintain files on what they say,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a statement. “This would undoubtedly have a chilling effect on the free speech that's expressed every day on social media.”

The rights organization said the “collect-it-all approach is ineffective to protect national security and is one more example of the Trump administration's anti-immigrant agenda.”</s>The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will begin screening social media accounts of all immigrants entering the country, as part of a crackdown on terrorism.

The DHS has amended its rules, requiring that all immigrants disclose social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results.

Theverge.com reports: Similar rules were first considered last year. The DHS finalized its plans last week, though they weren’t publicized until last night when they were reported by BuzzFeed News. The changes go into effect on October 18th.

The initiative originally came in response to the San Bernardino attack in 2015. At the time, reports spread that one of the attackers had expressed extremist views on social media, leading to calls for deeper security screenings.

However, that wasn’t quite what happened. While the attackers had communicated over social media, then-FBI director James Comey clarified that it was done through “direct, private messages,” which government agencies would not have been able to see. “We have found no evidence of posting on social media … reflecting their commitment to jihad or to martyrdom,” Comey said.

As BuzzFeed points out, there isn’t any proof yet that social media screenings are effective. In February, the DHS’s Inspector General’s office said that pilot tests of social media screenings “lack criteria for measuring performance to ensure they meet their objectives.” Without such information, the IG’s office said, the tests “provide limited information for planning and implementing an effective, department-wide future social media screening program.” That seems to be what’s happening now.</s>The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced it would begin collecting social media information for all immigrants entering the country. The announcement, published in the Federal Register a few days ago, and first noticed by BuzzFeed News, states any non-natural citizen will be subject to the new policy, starting October 18.

The Federal Register justifies the collection of this data explaining, “The purpose of this system of records is to facilitate administration of benefits and enforcement of provisions under the INA and related immigration statutes.”

Naturally, changes like these spark doubts about how the DHS will be using this kind of data. Our digital profile is nearly as intimate as getting to know a person in “real life.” The content we share on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram make up much of our identity, including our interactions and interests.

The document also explains that “DHS is updating the DHS/USCIS/ICE/CBP-001 Alien File, Index, and National File Tracking System of Records,” and goes on to explain 12 changes which will be taking place. One of the the most relevant being:

It’s interesting to see the new ways in which the state will be able to legally look into its citizens’ lives. For now it’s limited to immigrants, but how long will it be until it includes the entire population?</s>The department published a new rule in the Federal Register on September 18 stating that it plans to include “social media handles, aliases, associated identifiable information, and search results” as part of U.S. immigrants’ records. The new rule was first spotted by BuzzFeed. Civil liberties groups have expressed grave concern over the new rules. Not only could the government choose to deny access to the U.S. based on the political, religious, or social beliefs and information an immigrant posts on social media, opponents also argue that U.S. citizens themselves might start self-censoring who they interact with on social media out of fear that the information they exchange with a foreign national could be misconstrued and used against them. The new rule takes effect on October 18.MG
The United States Department of Homeland Security plans to collect the social media information of all immigrants, including green card holders and naturalized citizens, beginning on October 18, 2017.