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I wouldn't be surprised - their ESTA form has a mandatory question which requires applicants to list all their social media accounts.
by dan1234 5y ago
I wouldn't be surprised - their ESTA form has a mandatory question which requires applicants to list all their social media accounts.
- chki 5y agoMaybe this is different from country to country but when I open the ESA Website it says that this is an optional question that might become mandatory in the future.
- dan1234 5y agoLooks like it was optional until 2020, then became compulsory. https://usaestaonline.com/esta-social-media-question https://usaestaonline.com/esta-social-media-question
- cicciop 5y agoThrowaway account, but this is very much like the "member of the Nazi party" question: of no practical value (border guards don't know the entire Nazi membership archive by heart, of course) unless they need to throw the book at you for some other perceived slight (i.e. involved in some political protest that is not an actual crime? HE LIED ON ENTRY FORM, IMMEDIATE EXPULSION!). So if you don't plan to commit crimes or otherwise confront the authorities, you can leave that blank, or use throwaways. Just don't give your real info, because they will use it to analyse you for real.
- itronitron 5y agoA few years ago I ordered some items from a small online shop located in an east-of-central European country. A few days before I received the package I noticed that one of the recent searches on my linkedin account was from someone in that country's customs office. Not sure if they were bored and curious or working through their customs protocol.
- sva_ 5y agoI went through ESTA last winter and it was optional.
- cjbgkagh 5y agoI think at the moment there is the soft problem of delays in results or potential rejection for unknown reasons. You also don't have to tell them who you're staying with either but a rejection can be pretty devastating so there is a strong incentive to give more than what is explicitly required. It was clear such encroachments on civil liberates were coming so I've never done anything on my social accounts that would upset the establishment, so even in my own case it has had a chilling effect.
- sva_ 5y agoIf my memory serves me right, it was mandatory to mention the first address I went to, but social media was clearly marked as optional. I put GitHub, it worked fine.
- cjbgkagh 5y agoMy point is that it’s unknown if not stating it would impact the application so people would err on the side of caution and compliance.
- jacquesm 5y agoWhich by itself is a pretty good reason to never travel to the USA.
- mechanical_bear 5y agoYou think this is unique?
- jacquesm 5y agoDoes that matter? It's disgusting.
- mechanical_bear 5y agoIt kind of does when you are using it as a silly “whataboutism”.
- jacquesm 5y agoYou mean like you did? Agreed, that's silly.
- account42 5y agoMaybe not unique but it is definitely not ubiquitous - plenty of countries that let you visit without that bs.