People travelling to the United States may soon have to provide details of their social media accounts while applying for a visa, reported The Guardian. The US' Customs and Border Protection agency has proposed to add a section in the online as well as paper application forms that will read, “Please enter information associated with your online presence—Provider/Platform—Social media identifier.”

According to the country's Federal register, collecting social media data will help them in their "investigative process" and provide the Department of Homeland Security with more information through which "possible nefarious activity and connections" can be analysed.

The new addition will be optional for the time being and applicants will not be asked to furnish passwords. The Barack Obama government will accept views on the proposal till August 22.