Chula researchers have revealed the impacts of the coronavirus outbreaks on personal data protection and confidence in the government, which resulted in the concealment of information by infected people, that hindered the mitigation of the pandemic. The governments must educate the public and create awareness of people’s legal rights.
In early 2020, after the government had enacted the Communication Diseases Act, B.E. 2558 (2015), all travelers entering Thailand were required to complete a 14-day quarantine at government-designated Alternative State Quarantine (ASQ) facilities. At that time, some flights were bringing Thai citizens home. The passengers onboard had not been informed of the announcement, and as soon as the planes landed, chaos erupted at the airport. Government officials claimed the authority of the announcement and the law and took all the passengers straight to the quarantine facilities. Of course, many passengers did not agree and immediately fled. thailand university ranking
Personal information: names, surnames, and addresses of the passengers of those flights were leaked on social media. These passengers and their families were stigmatized by society as “selfish”, “unpatriotic”, and some were even terrorized in their places.
What does this occurrence say about government officials responsible for protecting public interests vs. the people who are entitled to that protection? In such circumstances, the citizens and governments of many developing countries are often faced with a dilemma between public interests and respect for the citizens’ privacy.
This issue motivated Prof. Dr. Pirongrong Ramasoota, professor of Journalism, the Faculty of Communication Arts, Chulalongkorn University, and a senior research fellow at LIRNEasia to conduct research entitled Health-Related Information & COVID-19: A Study of Sri Lanka and Thailand, in collaboration with Arthit Suriyawongkul, Ramathi Bandaranayake and Ashwini Natesan. The research focuses on the collection, use, and protection of personal data of COVID-19 patients in Thailand, and Sri Lanka. It is a pilot study in the protection of rights, and privacy on personal health data in Information Communication Technology (ICT) in developing countries.
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