The State Department now requires access to social media usernames, email addresses, and phone numbers, for nearly all visa applicants.

"National security is our top priority when adjudicating visa applications, and every prospective traveler and immigrant to the United States undergoes extensive security screening,” said the department in a statement to the AP. “We are constantly working to find mechanisms to improve our screening processes to protect U.S. citizens while supporting legitimate travel to the United States.”

The policy change is a result of a memorandum sent out in March 2017 and was approved on Friday. It is expected to affect nearly 15 million people who apply for visas to the United States every year.

Following the announcement from the department, the American Civil Liberties Union denounced the idea and warned online posts could be misinterpreted to keep immigrants out of the country.

"This attempt to collect a massive amount of information on the social media activity of millions of visa applicants is yet another ineffective and deeply problematic Trump administration plan," said Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU’s National Security Project, in a statement, "It will infringe on the rights of immigrants and U.S. citizens by chilling freedom of speech and association, particularly, because people will now have to wonder if what they say online will be misconstrued or misunderstood by a government official."

Visa applicants will be required to submit five years of previously used telephone numbers, email addresses — only applicants for certain diplomatic and official visa types are exempted from the requirements.