Over the past few years, millions of foreign visitors and potential immigrants entering the United States have leaked the contents of their social media accounts to the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This requirement is part of the Visa Lifecycle Vetting Initiative (VLVI) which began in 2014.
When the VLVI was founded, the disclosure of its information on social networks was voluntary. Then, in 2019, this information has been made compulsory in certain circumstances. For example, travelers who requested electronic visa-free access to the United States were asked to voluntarily provide this information.
To date, up to 15 million people have participated in the VLVI program each year. The account information they are required to share with authorities is wide ranging and includes photos, locations, account names, dates of birth, and other data that most of us don’t shy away from. to share on our social networks. The program requests information across 20 different networks and up to five years of data. This disclosure is now an integral part of the US visa application process.
Social media verification is not going in the right direction
In September 2019, an extension of the VLVI program was proposed to widen its scope to other applicants, including people applying for a visa waiver and seeking asylum. This expansion would double the potential number of applications covered. When Biden took office in January 2021, he called for a review of the program and its proposed expansion. This review was completed and the expansion was rejected by the Executive Branch Office who said DHS had failed to demonstrate the usefulness of the policy and justify the associated costs.
The expansion also faces legal challenges. For a detailed overview of the developments, see this timeline from the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School. The latest trial includes one from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which sued DHS in March for more transparency on the VLVI program. The foundation, along with other groups, opposes the program, which was also originally and now popularly known as “extreme or enhanced verification.” Their claims are that it invades candidates’ privacy and violates their First Amendment rights.
“We are disappointed that the Biden administration has decided to double down on this policy of mass social media surveillance of Trump-era visa applicants,” said Carrie DeCell, senior counsel at the Knight First Amendment Institute. In a recent Washington Post Editorial, she also writes: “This is the kind of politics we usually associate with authoritarian states, not open societies. This does a disservice to our democratic values.
The Risks Associated With Social Media Verification
Social media verification programs like VLVI are insidious in nature, as an individual’s data can be retained indefinitely, widely shared among multiple federal agencies, and could even be leaked to foreign governments. There is no “right to be forgotten” clause included in the program, which is part of many European data privacy laws that have been enacted in recent years, including the GDPR.
As we explored last year, the Brennan Center also investigated the Los Angeles Police Department, revealing the fact that the police collected data from social media accounts on people arrested by the police but not necessarily arrested or detained. It could be the numerical equivalent of “stop and frisk”.
The actions of the LAPD and DHS are yet other examples of how your digital information may be collected. This underscores the fact that protecting digital freedom is now more important than ever.
