Germany to monitor visa applicants’ social media --[Reported by Umva mag]

The country’s authorities argue the accounts may help evaluate fraud risk, a UK charity has reported

The German Federal Police have proposed checking social media accounts of Schengen visa applicants to help embassy officials confirm their information, British civil liberties watchdog Statewatch has said, citing internal documents.

Embassy officials in the Schengen Area, which consists of 29 countries, commonly assess the applications against subjective criteria, including the “plausibility” of their stated travel reasons and their likeliness to leave the zone.

The document suggests that investigation of applicants’ social media accounts should be added to the assessment, emphasizing that social networks, which are sometimes openly accessible and provide useful information, are becoming increasingly important when it comes to security issues.

“It may be possible to check whether the traveler is active in them and which content is displayed, which groups they belong to, or which places were last visited,” the London-based charity organization cites the document as saying. “Job profiles can allow conclusions about the actual profession and thus income.”

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The recommendation is reportedly part of the ‘Handbook Visa Fraud: Preventive measures and repressive control approaches’ that also urges developing “risk profiles,” which would use such criteria as “gender, age, groups of persons, origin, itinerary” to assess risk of committing visa fraud by applicants.

According to a Federal Police spokesperson as cited by Statewatch, “intensive” uses of open-source research “generally fall within the legal framework for border controls (Schengen Borders Code) and the rules for issuing visas (Visa Code).”

“Furthermore, appropriate measures are always dependent on the national legislation in the EU member states,” the spokesperson emphasized.

As of 2024, the Schengen Area covers 25 of the 27 EU member states as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. A Schengen visa application does not currently have a field to indicate applicants’ social media accounts.

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