Visitors from 42 countries may soon also be required to reveal email accounts, extensive family history and biometric information to enter the United States.

Visitors eligible to enter the United States without a visa may soon be required to provide more personal information to the Department of Homeland Security, including details about their social media activity, email accounts and family background.

according to a notice Published on Wednesday In the Federal Register, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) proposes to collect up to five years of social media data from travelers arriving from certain visa-exempt countries.

The proposed requirements would apply to travelers using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) under the visa waiver program, which allows citizens of the following countries 42 countries – Includes UK, Germany, Qatar, Greece, Malta, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Israel and South Korea – Travel to the US for tourism or business for up to 90 days.

Currently, unlike a standard visa application, ESTA automatically screens applicants and grants travel approval without the need for an in-person interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate.

Currently, ESTA applicants are required to provide more limited information, such as parents’ names, current email addresses and details of any past criminal records.

In 2016, a question asking travelers to disclose social media information was first added to the ESTA application, but it remains optional.

New rules also target metadata, email history

The new notice also states that CBP plans to ask visitors to provide more personal information, including phone numbers used in the past five years and email addresses used in the past 10 years.

The authorities also said they plan to add what they describe as “high-value data fields” to the ESTA application “where feasible”. These include metadata from electronically submitted photos, extensive personal details about applicants’ family members (such as place of birth and phone numbers used in the past five years), and biometric information (including fingerprints, DNA and iris data).

The announcement did not say what the government was looking for in tourists’ social media accounts or why it was requesting more information.

But U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it was complying with an executive order from U.S. President Donald Trump Signed in January Calls for more screening of people coming to the United States to prevent possible national security threats from entering.

Travelers from countries not part of the Visa Waiver Program system are already required to submit their social media information, a policy that dates back to the first Trump administration. The policy remains in place under President Joe Biden’s administration.

The notice in the Federal Register states that the public has 60 days to submit comments on the proposed changes before they are finalized.