According to engadget, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has proposed a new rule that could require tourists from 40 visa-waiver countries—including the UK, France, Germany, Australia, and Japan—to provide a five-year history of their social media handles before entry. The rule, citing a January executive order from President Trump, would also mandate applicants to list telephone numbers from the last five years and email addresses from the last decade. Applicants would have to make their social media privacy settings public for review, and omitting information could lead to visa denial. The CBP estimates this would add over 5.5 million man-hours of work annually, equivalent to about 3,000 full-time jobs. The current ESTA application, which costs $40 and is valid for two years, would see drastically increased wait times. Already, some Australian tourists planning to attend the World Cup have reportedly canceled trips, calling the proposal “horrifying.”
Privacy trade-offs and tourism fears
Here’s the thing: this is a massive, unprecedented ask for privacy in exchange for a tourist visa. The CBP document doesn’t specify what they’re looking for or what would be disqualifying, which is the most concerning part. It creates a chilling effect where people have to guess what might get them flagged. And let’s be real, who can accurately remember every single social media handle they’ve used in half a decade? Forgetting an old, dormant account could jeopardize your entire application. It turns a simple tourism process into a deep background check. President Trump says he’s “not concerned” about a tourism decline, but the numbers tell a different story—travel to the U.S. was already down 3% year-over-year as of August 2025. When you add a layer of invasive scrutiny like this, you have to expect more people will just choose to go elsewhere. Why deal with the hassle?
The enormous logistical weight
Think about the scale of this. The CBP’s own analysis, detailed in the Federal Register notice, spells it out: 5,598,115 extra man-hours per year. That’s not just a slight bump in paperwork; that’s the workload of a small army of bureaucrats. Who pays for that? Well, the government does initially, but you can bet the $40 ESTA fee won’t stay $40 for long if this is implemented. The cost of enforcement would skyrocket. And for what? To manually sift through billions of potentially mundane social media posts? The efficiency of the ESTA system, which is supposed to facilitate easy travel from allied nations, would be completely gutted. It shifts the entire process from a trusted, automated check to a manual investigative review.
A wider trend and competitive landscape
This isn’t happening in a vacuum. As noted in a Travel and Tour World analysis, the U.S. is seeing an “unprecedented fall” in arrivals while outbound travel from Americans gains momentum. Other countries are surely watching. If the U.S. makes entry this difficult, it directly benefits tourism competitors like Canada, European nations, and destinations across Asia. They become more attractive by default. The winners here are every other country’s tourism board. The losers are U.S. hotels, restaurants, attractions, and all the businesses that rely on international visitors. It’s a self-inflicted wound on a massive industry. Basically, the U.S. is risking a key economic sector for a security measure of questionable effectiveness.
What happens next?
It’s crucial to remember this is still just a proposal. The CBP spokesperson stressed it’s “the first step in starting a discussion.” But the fact it’s even on the table is significant. It sets a new benchmark for what a government might demand for entry. Will other countries reciprocate with similar demands for U.S. citizens? Probably. Could this lead to a world where your online history, going back years, becomes a standard part of your travel passport? That’s the path we’re starting down. For now, nothing changes for travelers. But the discussion has started, and it’s a pretty frightening one for anyone who values privacy or the simple idea of a spontaneous vacation.
