Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly speaks before Congress Tuesday.
CBS NewsVisitors to the US might be asked to relinquish their social media passwords to border agents as part of an attempt to tighten security checks.
"We want to get on their social media, with passwords: What do you do, what do you say?" Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly told the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday, according to NBC News . "If they don't want to cooperate then you don't come in."
Twitter,Facebook and other social media sites can offer a wealth of detail about a person, as PresidentDonald Trump's prolific tweeting illustrates. Seeking social-media passwords, though, would go a big step beyond seeing what people posted on public profiles to reveal contacts, private postings and private messages.
Kelly, speaking before Congress to address Trump's immigration ban , said the password request was an idea the Department of Homeland Security was considering. Another, he said, was seeking visitors' financial records.
The immigration ban, which targets all refugees and residents of seven predominantly Muslim countries, has triggered opposition from dozens of tech companies . The fate of the executive order calling for the ban is now in the hands of US courts, but Trump defended it and attacked the US judicial system Wednesday .