British and French travellers to the US must soon provide more personal details
Social media account handles, phone numbers and email addresses will need to be declared during application
Suspicious activity related to social media accounts could see travellers refused entry. Archive photo shows the official Esta website
Tunatura/Shutterstock
Visitors to the United States using the ‘Esta’ visa waiver will soon be required to hand over personal information including social media account profiles and previous email addresses, following a planned controversial update to the system.
Citizens of all countries who can apply for the Esta visa waiver would be affected, including French, Britons, Australians, and most European countries.
A previously optional element of the application asking for visitors to hand over five years’ worth of social media activity is set to become mandatory, alongside a list of email addresses used over the last 10 years and telephone numbers from the last five years.
The administration of President Donald Trump hinted at the changes in December 2025, and the new rules were due to come into force on Sunday (February 8).
As of Tuesday (February 10), they have yet to officially be implemented, but the change is expected to be formally made in the coming days.
However, a price increase for the Esta from $21 to $40 did come into effect on Sunday.
The changes form part of plans to tackle “potential risks to national security” included in an executive order signed by President Trump in January 2025.
Several associations have urged the US to scrap the rule changes, arguing it could impact the nation’s tourism industry, jeopardise travellers planning to attend the 2026 FIFA World Cup held partly in the country, and lead to a further deterioration in relations with European countries.
Increased application time, risk of rejection
As a reminder, the Esta is a visa-waiver scheme for citizens of eligible countries visiting the US for tourism purposes, and acts much the same as the UK’s ‘ETA’ or the EU’s incoming ‘Etias’ systems.
Applications are made online or through a smartphone app prior to travel.
Under the new rules visitors would need to hand over the above information during the digital application process.
“In principle, all social media accounts will be affected,” said president of the US Tourism office in France Rémi Vénitien to Le Figaro.
This includes Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, and Snapchat among several others.
Including the additional information in the application process is estimated to add an additional 30 minutes to application times.
However, finding historic information could take significantly longer in some cases, for example, trying to remember old account names, phone numbers, rarely used email addresses, etc.
This could impact travellers applying at short notice for urgent travel.
There is also the risk that activity associated with the information handed over is flagged up to US authorities.
The State Department has previously instructed embassies and consulates processing student visas to check social media accounts for “hostile attitudes towards [US] citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles.”
A similar scope is likely to be included for Esta applications.
“The immigration officer (or an AI) could detect suspicious elements in the information provided and request additional information from the visitor during customs clearance to validate or deny their entry into the United States,” Mr Vénitien added.
These in-person checks would only take place after travelling to the US, which could potentially leave some travellers unclear on the status of their application.
At the same time, withholding information also comes with associated risks.
“It is strongly recommended never to mislead the US authorities. This could lead to being denied entry or even being banned from entering the country in the future,” Mr Vénitien said.
Potential effects on US tourism
Estimates that tourism to the US fell by 6% last year only add to concerns that the changes will further hinder a struggling sector.
The changes are “clearly not designed to encourage Esta applications [and could] intimidate French and European tourists,” said president of the French Association of Tour Operators Patrice Caradec.
“Anything that complicates obtaining travel authorisation or a visa automatically hinders tourism development. We are concerned about how French consumers will react to these new requirements.
The World Travel and Tourism Council predicts the changes to the Esta application would see 4.7 million fewer tourists travel to the US in 2026, a 23% drop from Esta-eligible countries.
In turn, this would cost the US economy more than $15 billion per year.
