5 million baht fine and 1 year jail sentence for those breaking new data laws

People who break the new data laws face a fine of up to 5 million baht and a 1 year jail sentence.

The Royal Thai Police issued this warning ahead of the new Personal Data Protection Act which came into effect today.

Under the new law, people can post pictures and video clips of themselves with others for personal purposes online, but they can’t benefit from any commercial gain or cause any damage to the reputation of others.

Deputy police spokesman Pol Col Siriwat Deepor says the installation of CCTV will not require a warning sign if it is intended to prevent crime and boost security.

“Personal data can be used without prior permission if it complies with legal requirements and is aimed at saving people’s lives, protecting individuals’ interests and rights and supporting statistical research and the public interest.”

Pol Col Siriwat stressed that consent from the owner of personal data is required, before it can be used to make a contract, undertake a legal process, be used to save a life, research or even the greater good of the public in the interest of protecting individuals’ rights.

Not all cases are illegal, if the pictures and video clips are uploaded to social media unintentionally without commercial gain and causing damage to that person, then that is fine.

Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas says the new PDPA law is meant to protect the personal data of organisations against being used for commercial gain or malicious intent.

Atip Asvanund, director of the Digital Council of Thailand, on the other hand, believes the PDPA will affect small and medium size businesses, freelancers and online sellers.

“If I were an online merchant with thousands of customers, I would still have no idea what to do.”

Source Bangkok Post