US may ask visa applicants to share phone, social media details

Expanding the scope of vetting of applicants for U.S. visas, the Trump administration has now proposed to seek the telephone numbers, email addresses and social media history of the applicants too.

As per the document published on the Federal Reserve's website, the application for the US visa may be revised to include additional questions regarding the various social media platforms being used by the applicants within five years preceding the date of the application.

Previously information related to social media history, phone numbers and email addresses were only sought from certain scrutinised applicants.

This comes amidst reports of a massive data sharing of millions of social media users for the purpose of influencing election results.

As per the Federal Reserve document the new move shall impact around 14.7 million people.