Thailand needs a law on personal data protection to encourage the use of reliable forms of e-commerce and transactions if the government wants to get the digital economy off the ground, says the Thai Netizen Network.
Cybersecurity measures and data privacy laws will play an increasingly important role in supporting the aims of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), Sarinee Achavanuntakul, representative of Thai Netizen Network, said at a forum yesterday entitled "The Regulator's Role for Cybersecurity Protection".
She said more than half of 50 popular Thai websites lack encryption for connection between users' computers and destination servers on the internet, which could lead to hacking.
Ms Sarinee also said the three leading fixed-line broadband internet service providers (ISPs) had access to customers' personal data. The companies claim that they need to do so in order to manage data traffic and ensure speed and quality.
She urged the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to tighten data protection measures as the regulator has the authority to punish ISPs for breaches of data privacy rules.
"The regulator can revoke the licences of ISPs if they violate privacy," she said.
The NBTC has faced heavy criticism for the lack of a clear stance on maintaining the right of people to freedom of expression and protecting the personally identifiable information of internet users.
Ms Sarinee said the NBTC clearly backed the government's restricting the freedom of social media users.
Thailand needs to enforce a data protection law next year if the country wants to promote a digitally-based economy, she said.
Thailand is in the final stages of consultation on its draft privacy legislation, which has already been approved by the Council of State.