{"id":2683,"date":"2014-05-28T09:30:16","date_gmt":"2014-05-28T13:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mysecuritysign.com\/blog\/?p=2683"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:38:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T05:38:48","slug":"data-sharing-immigration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mysecuritysign.com/blog\/data-sharing-immigration\/","title":{"rendered":"Data sharing could make international travel difficult"},"content":{"rendered":"

What you say online can hurt your chances of entering a country you plan to visit. Many countries are making it tougher for people to cross their borders, and thanks to personal databases flowing freely between countries, they are having an easier time doing so.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs more data is being amassed, it is being moved more quickly and easily between government agencies and immigration authorities,\u201d says<\/a> Suzanne Nossel, executive director of the PEN American Center, \u201cso there can be more of a chance of something popping up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Travelers

Traveling to another country? Keep your online posts in check. From\u00a0nathaninsandiego<\/a>.<\/p><\/div>\n

Data sharing between countries rising<\/h3>\n

The U.S. and Canada share data on criminals, so it\u2019s easy for both to enforce the law. Both countries might not allow those with prior arrests to enter their borders.<\/p>\n

The two are set to go a step further. Beginning this fall, the U.S. and Canada will also share the\u00a0personal information of applicants for visas. Privacy could be a key concern.<\/p>\n

Currently, 366 people<\/a>\u00a0per day are refused entry at the U.S. border. As of now, the two countries share information related to 3,000 people a year at borders. When this figure goes up, more people are likely to be refused entry.<\/p>\n

Public figures scrutinized<\/h3>\n

Celebrities are particularly vulnerable. Celebrity-chef Nigella Lawson was not allowed to travel to the U.S. after she admitted in court that she had taken cocaine. “It could be because she is unlucky enough to be famous and her admission of drug use made the newspapers,\u201d says<\/a> lawyer Susan McFadden.<\/p>\n

Even politicians are turned away from borders. Toronto Mayor Rob Ford boarded a plane to Chicago, but \u201cafter discussion with U.S. Customs and Border Protection he withdrew his request to enter the USA and departed,” says<\/a> Roy Norton, Consul General at Canadian Consulate General at Chicago. Ford had earlier admitted to using cocaine.<\/p>\n

Political activists are vulnerable<\/h3>\n

Political activists are also on the immigration radar, courtesy of the ease of investigating them on Facebook, Google, and Twitter.<\/p>\n

Writer Ilija Trojanow, a critic of the National Surveillance Agency, was not allowed to board a plane to the U.S. for a conference.\u00a0Only after PEN interceded on his behalf and sent a letter to the U.S. State and Homeland Security Departments asking for a review of Trojanow\u2019s case was he allowed entry.<\/p>\n

Cell phones are not off-limits<\/h3>\n

Immigration officials have even read cell phone messages and barred people from entering the border in Canada.<\/p>\n

Jake Owen, an American musician, was set to play for free in a caf\u00e9 in Canada. However, an officer found a message on Owen\u2019s phone implying that he would get paid by a friend. \u201cWe weren’t getting paid \u2014 there was no money being exchanged in Canada,\u201d says<\/a> Owen. He was still sent back to the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cNormally, if you\u2019re potentially taking a job away from a Canadian, you\u2019d need a work permit,\u201d says Nancy Caron, Citizens & Immigration Canada spokesperson. \u201cIf you\u2019re a big international performer, then you\u2019re not taking a job away from someone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other countries also have stringent immigration policies. \u201cFor Brazil, if you\u2019re going short-term but you\u2019re doing hands-on work \u2014 even if it\u2019s for a company in the U.S. \u2014 there\u2019s a separate visa,\u201d says Aaron Caplan of Perry International, a visa facilitation firm. \u201cAnd in China, we have heard they\u2019re really scrutinizing what people are doing there, to make sure anyone who is actually working is getting a work visa.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What you say online can hurt your chances of entering a country you plan to visit. Many countries are making it tougher for people to cross their borders, and thanks to personal databases flowing freely between countries, they are having an easier time doing so. \u201cAs more data is being amassed, it is being moved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,11],"tags":[289,288,95],"class_list":["post-2683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-trespassing","tag-data-sharing","tag-immigration","tag-nsa"],"yoast_head":"\nData sharing could make international travel difficult -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With increased data sharing, what you say online could affect your chances of entering a country you plan to visit.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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