Ahead of the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympics, the Trump administration is proposing to require citizens of visa-exempt countries (including Britain, France, Japan, and Australia) to provide their entire social media history for the past five years, as well as their phone numbers and email addresses for the past five to ten years, when applying for an ESTA.
The proposal was submitted by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Department of Homeland Security, citing Trump’s January executive order “protecting the United States from foreign terrorists.”
Digital rights advocates warn that the new rule could violate people’s privacy rights and harm US tourism, especially as the country is expecting a large influx of tourists. The public consultation will last 60 days.
