Seriously America?

 

I could not believe my eyes when I read about what the United States is implementing regarding the collection of personal information from visitors to their once “friendly” nation.

Following is a verbatim copy of a notice published yesterday by the US Customs and Border Protection Agency.

“In a notice published on Tuesday, the US Customs and Border Protection agency (CBP) said it would also require any telephone numbers used by visitors over the same period, and any email addresses used in the last decade, as well as face, fingerprint, DNA and iris biometrics. It would also ask for the names, addresses, birthdates and birthplaces of family members, including children.”

(I suggest that you read it carefully and multiple times so as you can digest the implications of the effect it will have on tourism in the States. Tourism that is already declining at an alarming rate.)

(THIS WILL AFFECT TRAVELLERS FROM FORTY-TWO COUNTRIES. MANY OF WHICH ARE OR ONCE WERE U.S. ALLIES.)

(THIS DOES NOT AFFECT MOST CANADIANS. IT WILL AFFECT PEOPLE IN CANADA, FROM OTHER NATIONS, THAT WANT TO ENTER THE STATES.)

Here is the main body of the application.

(I will be interrupting it as I insert my comments or thoughts.)

High Value Data Elements: To comply with the January 2025 E.O. (14161), and the April 4, 2025, Memorandum Updating All Forms to Collect Baseline Biographic Data, CBP will add several “high value data fields” to the ESTA application, when feasible. This is in addition to the information already collected in the ESTA application.

(I haven’t even read past the first line without becoming worried. “HIGH VALUE DATA ELEMENTS” ALL my alarm bells went off. What does this even mean?)

1. ESTA Website Decommission: CBP will decommission the ESTA website Application process to establish the ESTA Mobile application as the sole platform to apply for a new ESTA.

CBP intends to require applicants to submit ESTA applications solely via the ESTA Mobile application; consequently, travelers would no longer be permitted to submit ESTA applications using the existing ESTA website. CBP believes that moving to a mobile-only approach for ESTA submissions will both enhance security and improve efficiency. The ESTA website would remain available as a resource for information about the ESTA program, as well as allow applicants to check the status of their ESTA applications but will not be used to collect information from applicants.

(The Trump Administration is making entering (and, in some cases ‘exiting’) the country as difficult and as evasive of ‘personal information’ as they possibly can.

Currently, applicants can apply for an ESTA via the ESTA website or the ESTA Mobile application. However, poor quality image uploads to the ESTA website have resulted in applicants bypassing the facial comparison screening. A case study from the National Targeting Center (NTC) Traveler Application Security Unit (TASU) of a poor-quality passport photo submission demonstrates the increased accuracy of live mobile image capture over web-based uploads. NTC TASU identified over 2,400 poor quality passport biographical page uploads and over 8,000 invalid passport photos that led to negative or failed photo comparison screenings. CBP believes that travelers are aware of this vulnerability and have begun to exploit it by purposely uploading poor quality images to avoid detection.

Additionally, CBP continues to struggle with fraudulent third-party websites. Third-party fraudulent websites charge travelers exorbitant fees to process an application, where many of these applications may never be processed by CBP, resulting in a traveler being unable to board a U.S. bound plane.

Lastly, unlike ESTA Mobile, the ESTA website is unable to validate the authenticity of the passport through the certificates embedded on the electronic chip (e-Chip). Bad actors exploit this vulnerability to apply for an ESTA. NTC TASU has discovered hundreds of fraudulent ESTAs created by facilitators to support visa applications. These facilitators uploaded fraudulent passport bio pages to obtain approved ESTAs. travelers then presented official ESTA printouts, falsely claiming the ESTA holder was a spouse, to strengthen their visa applications.

The ESTA Mobile application provides superior identity verification methods, including liveness detection, facial recognition and Near Field Communication (NFC)-based passport scanning/electronic chip verification. Applying for an ESTA on the website does not allow NFC verification of an ePassport, unlike when using the mobile app. The current ESTA Mobile submission process includes retrieving biographic information and portrait photo from the e-Chip, matching the portrait with a live selfie via the CBP Traveler Verification Service (TVS), and auto-denying applications that fail Country Signing Certificate validation from the Traveler Document Authentication System.

While transitioning to a mobile-only ESTA system may present some initial challenges, the long-term benefits, including enhanced security and fraud reduction, make the transition a viable national security decision. CBP believes the continued evolution of mobile technology will further streamline and secure the traveler authentication process, paving the way for future advancements in contactless verification and biometric authentication.

2. Romania Removal from Visa Waiver Program (VWP): Due to the removal of Romania from the approved list of countries under the VWP, CBP is updating relevant collections to reflect this removal. The public can refer to https://www.dhs.gov/visa-waiver-program for the list of approved countries under the VWP.

3. Mandatory Social Media: In order to comply with the January 2025 Executive Order 14161 (Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats), CBP is adding social media as a mandatory data element for an ESTA application. The data element will require ESTA applicants to provide their social media from the last 5 years.

(Now this bothers me to no end! To invade someone’s privacy to such an extent as a “PRECAUTION” and not after previous “RED FLAGS” are raised is the equivalent to finding one guilty and then holding trial.

I could fully understand doing this if the applicant’s assessment showed just reason to delve so intensely into their personal affairs.

If you were to analyze five years worth of ANYONE’S social media you are sure to discover the bad with the good.

Social media is where the average person keyboards without thought.

Where people say things after being caught up in senseless banter’s.

They would have a field day exploring mine.)

4. The high value data fields include:

(HERE WE GO:)

a. Telephone numbers used in the last five years;

(On a good day I cannot remember my current phone number and you want all my numbers from the last five years?)

b. Email addresses used in the last ten years;

(Only the last ten? Why not go all the way back to the birth of emails in 1982?)

c. IP addresses and metadata from electronically submitted photos;

(Do they truly believe that any common person even knows what an IP Address is? Even I had to Google “METADATA”. Again I could understand if there was proven just cause to so deeply violate one’s privacy.)

d. Family member names (parents, spouse, siblings, children);

(I can understand asking for this to prove identity and birth.)

e. Family number telephone numbers used in the last five years;

(Why? What is the reasoning for such a quantity of “THEIR” personal information?)

f. Family member dates of birth;

(The parent’s birth dates I am okay with as it could be necessary to prove place and time of birth.)

g. Family member places of birth;

(Why? It isn’t their application. Am. I’m my brother’s keeper?)

h. Family member residencies;

(My previous residency, no problem. Again I say, it is not my family applying on this application.)

i. Biometrics—face, fingerprint, DNA, and iris;

(I can understand the picture. The fingerprints, DNA and Iris Scan – NO WAY, JOSE’. I couldn’t see that if I was applying for a secret service job. I would never willingly agree to the collecting of such processes. That would be the ultimate invasion of privacy.)

j. Business telephone numbers used in the last five years;

(If you do not have the yellow pages then Google it!)

k. Business email addresses used in the last ten years.

(What is the reasoning to need my “BUSINESS” emails from ten years ago?)

CBP invites the public to comment on both the previously approved emergency changes and the newly proposed changes.

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE COMPLETE APPLICATION BY CBP:

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/10/2025-22461/agency-information-collection-activities-revision-arrival-and-departure-record-form-i-94-and

CAMPERS, I. CANNOT COMPREHEND WHY THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES ARE NOT UP IN ARMS AND TAKING “ACTUAL ACTIONS” TO PUT A STOP TO THE INSANITY OF DONALD J TRUMP AND HIS CORRUPT, VERY CORRUPT ADMINISTRATION.

TO US NON-AMERICANS THE ADMINISTRATION APPEARS TO BE MORE OF AN ILLEGAL CARTEL FORMED AFTER A “COUP”.

IT APPEARS THAT TRUMP WANTS THE WORLD TO STAY AWAY FROM HIS KINGDOM UNLESS SUMMONED.

THIS FIRST BECAME APPARENT WITH OSTRACISM TOWARDS MY HOMELAND, CANADA AND THEN IT WAS A STEADY STREAM OF ATTACKS UPON EVERY SINGLE ALLY THE UNITED STATES ONCE HAD.

THEN YOU HAVE HIS ALLEGIANCE TO RUSSIA AND NOT TO THE UKRAINE.

NEXT YOU HAVE THE FINANCING OF THE SLAUGHTER IN GAZA.

THE COMPLICITY TOWARDS THE GENOCIDE.

THE PARTICIPATION IN THE ETHNIC CLEANSING OF THE PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS AND THE ACTUAL SUPPLYING OF THE VERY BOMBS BEING USED TO SLAUGHTER THE NONCOMBATANT, UNARMED, DEFENCELESS CIVILIANS OF GAZA.

IT COMES ACROSS TO THE REST OF THE WORLD LIKE THE AMERICAN PEOPLE ARE BEING HELD HOSTAGE IN AN ABUSIVE AND DANGEROUS RELATIONSHIP.

THE ABUSER, DONALD J TRUMP, HAS HIS HOSTAGES, YOU – “THE AMERICAN PEOPLE”, LOCKED IN AN ESCAPE PROOF BUNKER AND IS METHODICALLY OSTRACIZING EVER FAMILY, FRIEND AND ACQUAINTANCE YOU EVER HAD AND KNOWN.

AMERICA, YOU DO NOT DESERVE THIS ABUSE.

YOU HOLD THE POWER IN YOUR NUMBERS AND YOUR COURTS AND, MOST OF ALL, YOUR CONGRESS.

CAMPERS, PLEASE ESCAPE FROM THIS ABUSE.

DESPITE WHAT YOUR WANNABE DICTATOR LEADER TELLS YOU, HIM AND HIS ADMINISTRATION ARE NOT YOUR FRIENDS.

WE, THE WORLD, ARE STILL YOUR ALLY OVER INJUSTICE.

UNFORTUNATELY, IT IS TOO DANGEROUS TO COME RESCUE YOU.

CAMPERS, THE BURDEN IS RESTING ON YOUR SHOULDERS TO:

“MAKE AMERICA GREAT OUNCE AGAIN”