Thailand

Government in control of Mor Chana app, says user data will be kept private

Published

5 months ago

Monday, January 18, 2021

Som-O

PHOTO: Thai PBS World

The Thai government is taking full control of the Mor Chana application, which is used to trace Covid-19 infections and alert users if they are in a high risk area. The Digital Economy and Society Minister says the government will still be working closely with the app developers, adding that users can be assured that their data will be kept private.

The Mor Chana Volunteer Team, the app developer, made a post on their Facebook page saying the Mor Chana contact tracing application will be 100% under government management and control from now. The team will be responsible only for the open source programme development. The post has prompted public comments about the reason behind the application handover to the government.

Minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta says the government will take full responsibility for the application management and control measures, but the collaboration with the app developers will continue. The developer team’s announcement is just to inform the public about the app.

He also says some app functions will be redesigned and adjusted to be more friendly to use and won’t violate users’ data privacy. Personal information such as users’ names and mobile numbers for registration won’t be required anymore.

SOURCE: Post Today

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13 Comments

Ian

Monday, January 18, 2021 at 6:13 pm

Private for who 555

Reply
Newz4U

Monday, January 18, 2021 at 7:06 pm

The developers of the app probably had no choice but to turn it over to the military run government.

“Private” means private people will be watched and tracked by the government. Soon, it will be mandatory for anyone with a smart phone to have.

And the app will probably have ability to track you, even if you do not have wifi.

Technology…don’t you just love it?

Reply
- MYOB
  
  Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 11:23 am
  
  Is having a smart phone mandatory? Is having it charged mandatory. Is having internet service mandatory. Would the govt like to pay my phone bill?
  
  Ya thought so.
  
  As if the providers and all the other apps don’t have full control already of all your data, contacts, camera, microphone etc.
  
  Tell me a website that has never been hacked? Lol.
  
  Reply
Graham White

Monday, January 18, 2021 at 7:36 pm

Trust me. I’m a Thai politician. You can take my word for it. Honest.

Reply
- Issan John
  
  Monday, January 18, 2021 at 8:20 pm
  
  Hmmm … if “Personal information such as users’ names and mobile numbers for registration won’t be required anymore” then how do you register?
  
  Or does the app simply access your mobile number anyway once downloaded to it, so it’s not required for registration as it already has it? … and, presumably, the user’s name?
  
  All a bit too perplexing for the technologically challenged, like me.
  
  Reply
- Strider
  
  Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 8:26 am
  
  No need to use the word “Thai”, politician is quite sufficient.
  
  Reply
Issan John

Monday, January 18, 2021 at 8:18 pm

Hmmm … if “Personal information such as users’ names and mobile numbers for registration won’t be required anymore” then how do you register?

Or does the app simply access your mobile number anyway once downloaded to it, so it’s not required for registration as it already has it? … and, presumably, the user’s name?

All a bit too perplexing for the technologically challenged, like me.

Reply
Mister Stretch

Monday, January 18, 2021 at 8:41 pm

The government is taking control…from the app developers, which means up til now, the developers, whomever they are have your data.

The government is in control? That’s just as frightening.

Reply
Ynwaps

Monday, January 18, 2021 at 8:45 pm

Facebook and others have claimed the same for years. If anything this makes me more suspicious lol

Reply
per_fect

Monday, January 18, 2021 at 10:56 pm

isnt that the problem? The government is in charge of the app. It would probably be better if someone else was…

Reply
Andre

Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 2:47 am

So the data was actually rather secure and only used for it’s intended purposes before this? Now it is used by the junta to track people – excellent tool to find out if you have been in proximity of any protestors or other people that spread “lies” about the perfect government or even the german.

Reply
- MYOB
  
  Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 11:27 am
  
  Eh they’re getting desperate. Over time, every govt has always run into problems and eventually they get ousted. Tis is life.
  
  Eventually the “nation state,” and invisible lines called borders will get dissolved by disruptive technologies.
  
  Reply
Issan John

Tuesday, January 19, 2021 at 12:00 pm

I simply can’t see the point.

If any government wants to track you via your phone they can always do so even if you turn off your “location services” and GPS – that’s nothing new.

If you have to show you’ve downloaded it to go to certain areas but you don’t want it on your phone for any reason, and you don’t want to be tracked by it, you can just download it to an old phone without a sim card via wi-fi, then turn off wi-fi on that phone and that phone can’t be tracked.

The app’s useless as an “all-informed” Covid perspectiv unless the majority download it – and so far only around 5% of the population have.

From an “all-informed” Covid tracking perspective, it’s also completely unnecessary at the moment as the known cases are so few, comparatively, that they’re all over social media so everyone knows anyway.

It’s pointless, completely unnecessary, and just alienates a lot of people for no reason other than “keeping up with the Jones’s” and “toys for the boys”.

It’s another submarine, although it’ll probably upset more people – not just unnecessary and pointless but completely counter-productive.

Reply