The US Customs and Border Protection agency on 10 December published a draft rule that would make social-media disclosure mandatory for every applicant to the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) – the gateway for citizens of 42 visa-waiver countries. Travellers would have to list all social-media identifiers used in the past five years, up to ten years of e-mail addresses and phone numbers, residential addresses, IP-address histories and metadata from uploaded photos. The agency also plans to harvest enhanced biometrics, including face prints and potentially DNA.
While Hong Kong SAR passport holders are not in the US Visa Waiver Program, tens of thousands of Hongkongers carry British National (Overseas) passports, Canadian passports or other visa-waiver documents obtained through ancestry or naturalisation abroad. These travellers – along with Hong Kong-based executives of multinational firms – would be required to hand over five years of social-media history or risk travel refusals once the rule is finalised.
For global-mobility teams headquartered in Hong Kong the proposal creates new compliance headaches. Staff on short-notice US assignments will need extra lead time to retrieve historical digital footprints and to reconcile usernames across multiple platforms. Data-protection officers must assess whether sharing staff social-media handles breaches Hong Kong’s Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance or European GDPR rules where EU nationals are involved.
![US proposes compulsory five-year social-media disclosure for Visa Waiver visitors, raising privacy concerns for Hong Kong BN(O) holders]()
A practical way to meet these emerging demands is to enlist specialised visa-processing support. VisaHQ’s Hong Kong team (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) provides online tools and experienced advisors who can guide applicants through the expanded ESTA questions, help assemble social-media histories, and flag privacy issues before they become trip-stoppers—saving both travellers and mobility managers valuable time.
Industry groups fear the rule could chill business travel ahead of the 2026 North American World Cup and push corporates to reroute meetings through Canada or Mexico. The US Travel Association warned that any added friction could further erode America’s share of global long-haul travellers, which has already slipped from 13 % to below 10 % since 2019. Civil-liberties advocates, meanwhile, decry the proposal as disproportionate and prone to viewpoint discrimination.
CBP has opened a 60-day public-comment window. Mobility managers should consider filing submissions detailing cost impacts, request clarity on data-storage safeguards and prepare internal guidance that advises employees to review privacy settings, remove sensitive posts, and document aliases before initiating an ESTA application. If implemented, the rule may take effect as early as mid-2026, so budgeting for longer approval timelines and potential refusals should start now.
While Hong Kong SAR passport holders are not in the US Visa Waiver Program, tens of thousands of Hongkongers carry British National (Overseas) passports, Canadian passports or other visa-waiver documents obtained through ancestry or naturalisation abroad. These travellers – along with Hong Kong-based executives of multinational firms – would be required to hand over five years of social-media history or risk travel refusals once the rule is finalised.
For global-mobility teams headquartered in Hong Kong the proposal creates new compliance headaches. Staff on short-notice US assignments will need extra lead time to retrieve historical digital footprints and to reconcile usernames across multiple platforms. Data-protection officers must assess whether sharing staff social-media handles breaches Hong Kong’s Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance or European GDPR rules where EU nationals are involved.
A practical way to meet these emerging demands is to enlist specialised visa-processing support. VisaHQ’s Hong Kong team (https://www.visahq.com/hong-kong/) provides online tools and experienced advisors who can guide applicants through the expanded ESTA questions, help assemble social-media histories, and flag privacy issues before they become trip-stoppers—saving both travellers and mobility managers valuable time.
Industry groups fear the rule could chill business travel ahead of the 2026 North American World Cup and push corporates to reroute meetings through Canada or Mexico. The US Travel Association warned that any added friction could further erode America’s share of global long-haul travellers, which has already slipped from 13 % to below 10 % since 2019. Civil-liberties advocates, meanwhile, decry the proposal as disproportionate and prone to viewpoint discrimination.
CBP has opened a 60-day public-comment window. Mobility managers should consider filing submissions detailing cost impacts, request clarity on data-storage safeguards and prepare internal guidance that advises employees to review privacy settings, remove sensitive posts, and document aliases before initiating an ESTA application. If implemented, the rule may take effect as early as mid-2026, so budgeting for longer approval timelines and potential refusals should start now.
