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US Customs wants to collect social media account names at the border

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Re: US Customs wants to collect social media account names at the border

#101

Post by daemin »

andreasklinger wrote: post #2

I was always very confused/amused by the questions at the border: "Are you a terrorist or affiliate with a terrorist organization?" "Are you a secret spy" Why would anyone say yes? What's the purpose of this. Do they just need it to avoid arguments like "we dont even ask?" A friend of mine explained it to me: - let's say that they have the suspicion or evidence that you are affiliated w/ a terrorist organization. by…

Would there ever be a legitimate reason for answering yes to those questions?

The closest thing that I can think of is if you were a member of a political party that had associations with a terrorist group (or that had been labelled as terrorists). So for example Sinn Fein in Ireland where they had links to the IRA.

Re: US Customs wants to collect social media account names at the border

#102

Post by riprowan »

ams6110 wrote: post #78
riprowan wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your body language and voice levels can help reveal some truth or at least the fact that you're uncomfortable answering the question. Maybe I'm actually just uncomfortable being grilled by my own paranoid countrymen without my guaranteed Constitutional protections as though I'm some sort of enemy of the state when really I just got back from Cozumel.

If you are a US citizen returning from abroad you are likely not going to be "grilled" at the border. You'll be asked a few routine questions about where you visited, the purpose of your travel, etc.

> You'll be asked a few routine questions about where you visited, the purpose of your travel, etc.

The agents are usually polite and friendly. But they aren't always, and that can be intimidating and infuriating if you're a US citizen who's simply returning home from a trip.

Re: US Customs wants to collect social media account names at the border

#103

Post by wavefunction »

geff82 wrote: post #98

At first I thought: giving this info might ease me from being treated as a semi-terrorist because I regularily visit Iran. Then I thought some more... my LinkedIn-Profile mentions I own a US company. Which is false, that mentioning there is only a means to get access to some groups and test waters as "if I was a local" because we consider moving there. I guess coming as a tourists and then DHS reads I have a company…

Plenty of people own businesses and travel as tourists. The real issue would be travel to Iran, as Iran has been built up through propaganda to be a very different place than it actually is in the minds of many Americans.

Re: US Customs wants to collect social media account names at the border

#104

Post by DrJokepu »

geff82 wrote: post #98

At first I thought: giving this info might ease me from being treated as a semi-terrorist because I regularily visit Iran. Then I thought some more... my LinkedIn-Profile mentions I own a US company. Which is false, that mentioning there is only a means to get access to some groups and test waters as "if I was a local" because we consider moving there. I guess coming as a tourists and then DHS reads I have a company…

If I understand correctly the "Proposed Changes" section, the proposed change will only affect Visa Waiver travellers (ESTA/I-94W forms). If you regularly visit Iran, it's likely that you're already excluded from the Visa Waiver Program due to the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015.

Re: US Customs wants to collect social media account names at the border

#105

Post by ArtDev »

ams6110 wrote: post #78
riprowan wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your body language and voice levels can help reveal some truth or at least the fact that you're uncomfortable answering the question. Maybe I'm actually just uncomfortable being grilled by my own paranoid countrymen without my guaranteed Constitutional protections as though I'm some sort of enemy of the state when really I just got back from Cozumel.

If you are a US citizen returning from abroad you are likely not going to be "grilled" at the border. You'll be asked a few routine questions about where you visited, the purpose of your travel, etc.

They also treat US citizens like dirt.

Re: US Customs wants to collect social media account names at the border

#106

Post by djKianoosh »

ams6110 wrote: post #78
riprowan wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your body language and voice levels can help reveal some truth or at least the fact that you're uncomfortable answering the question. Maybe I'm actually just uncomfortable being grilled by my own paranoid countrymen without my guaranteed Constitutional protections as though I'm some sort of enemy of the state when really I just got back from Cozumel.

If you are a US citizen returning from abroad you are likely not going to be "grilled" at the border. You'll be asked a few routine questions about where you visited, the purpose of your travel, etc.

uhh way incorrect. and I am a contractor for Customs! When I came back from the World Cup in Brasil I definitely got grilled, mainly because on my US Passport it displays the unfortunate (only when travelling) fact that I was born in Iran. Ok that and maybe because I grew a full beard that didnt match my passport photo, but still ;)

Just be respectfull as much as you can even though you just flew multiple hours and it's 1am and all you want is a clean shower and a fine meal just because Argentina lost another final... ahh sorry bad memories

Re: US Customs wants to collect social media account names at the border

#107

Post by benevol »

TheSoftwareGuy wrote: post #96
dandelion_lover wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are no time limits. The complexity may be a problem now, but later the collected data will reveal anything they want about you.

>There are no time limits. Yes there are, eventually you need to make a decision about whether to let this person into the country

Here's how it works:

Data (even encrypted data) is being collected and stored today. It is decrypted/made sense of whenever technology has reached the required maturity. At that moment, we become 100% open books. And you may feel that at the border (or elsewhere).

Re: US Customs wants to collect social media account names at the border

#110

Post by PopsiclePete »

mxuribe wrote: post #58

I think there are other, better ways to protect the nation than what the U.S. Customs is proposing here. This is getting kind of ridiculous.

Or maybe there aren't. Maybe we just have to learn with a certain amount of risk and don't be giant fucking pussies. Since when did we collectively become scared 40-something housewives? I thought this was "home of brave", not "home of those afraid to leave the house because there's rapists and terrorists hiding around the corner"?

If you're a government official, you pretty much have to, at this point, turn this country into a giant Orwellian nightmare, or be crucified by the media for not "doing enough to protect our children" the next time a few people inevitably lose their lives.

Our oh-so-precious children who are already growing up in a weird world where they're not allowed to ride their bikes around the damn neighborhood since mommy is convinced everyone is a rapist.

And then we sit around and wonder why little Jimmy grows up to be an asocial psychopath with rage built up that nobody can explain.

So yeah, things aren't going to get any better when we, and our officials, are basically cowards and would rather destroy everything that makes life worth living in order to "protect" us.

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