The Digital Economy and Society (DES) Ministry on Monday issued 10 guidelines for all related parties for handling pre-installed applications on mobile devices, aiming to protect consumers and prevent the apps from breaching the law.
The guidelines take immediate effect.
The ministry does not oblige the related parties to follow the guidelines, but seeks their collaboration to comply with them, said Wetang Phuangsup, secretary-general of National Digital Economy and Society Commission.
The ministry held a meeting on Monday with related state agencies, mobile phone brands and parties involved in device distribution and operation systems to acknowledge the guidelines.
Some 28 companies related to the mobile device ecosystem took part.
Mr Wetang said the guidelines are to help them screen the apps before pre-installation. This would help prevent the related parties from violating laws such as the Computer Crime Act and Personal Data Protection Act.
The first guideline is that manufacturers should set criteria for selecting only necessary apps and that the apps must not affect user privacy. They should avoid apps that are able to collect personal data without informing users in advance.
Secondly, apps should have transparency in accessing data.
Apps should provide options to users to enable them to uninstall and disable them.
Fourthly, the related parties should follow the security protocol standard.
The fifth guideline is that manufacturers should provide security updates to users for at least two or three years after the devices have been released in the market.
The sixth guideline is that manufacturers should avoid installing unsafe apps, such as those that contain spyware or could be considered to be malware.
The seventh guideline is that the app should have the ability to be reviewed and pass certification.
The eighth guideline calls for users to be given the ability to control the apps, including being able to turn on and off the various features.
The ninth guideline is that unnecessary apps should be restricted from running in the operating background as they may constantly collect data according to phone usage.
The 10th guideline is that the apps should reveal the privacy terms, stating their use purposes.
The meeting on Monday follows the Thailand Consumers Council urging Chinese smartphone brands Oppo and its subsidiary Realme to explain reports from smartphone users that the two loan offering apps pre-installed on some of their mobile phone models cannot be uninstalled and are capable of sending loan invitations and accessing users' personal data, including their contact lists and phone numbers.
They are the Fineasy app and a third party app known as 'Happy Loan' in English.
Mr Wetang added that the joint parties found there were 4 million Oppo and Realme mobile phones with Fineasy pre-installed.
Pol Col Suraphong Plengkham, director of the inspection and supervision division of the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC), added that 11 mobile users filed complaints to the PDPC that the two apps are not licenced by the Bank of Thailand and were pre-installed without their consent.
He added that these 11 cases would be concluded in the next 30 days.
On Jan 17, Oppo Thailand executives held a press conference to apologise to customers regarding this case.
The company said it had stopped installing the two apps on its new smartphone models since Jan 14.
As of Jan 16, it has gradually released software updates for mobile phone users to uninstall the Fineasy app.
It will also delete the information in the Fineasy app permanently from the cloud system, while users can personally delete the app information from their own devices.
The Happy Loan app does not store user information, according to the company.
The company said it strictly complies with the law on privacy and data safety in all countries.