The Department of Homeland Security announced Sept. 18 that it was adding social media and other public-facing information to its immigration records.
The move has generated alarm among privacy activists and generated a flurry of comments in the normally sleepy public docket.
Essentially, DHS announced that it was redefining what constitutes an official immigration file, expanding the scope of the record to include multiple electronic databases and paper records and adding social media handles and aliases, internet search results and information from “commercial data providers, and information shared obtained through information sharing agreements.”