The issue of privacy, especially in terms of the protection of personal data linked to a person's identity, has come to the fore this month due to the coming into force of Thailand's Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). It applies to both public and private entities that keep or process personal data concerning other people and it establishes safeguards to protect people's privacy.
The PDPA is derived heavily from developments in the European Union (EU), especially its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force in 2018. The latter has a direct impact on Thais and Thai companies involved in activities in the EU in this regard. The EU has also agreed to enact a new law this year in the form of the Digital Services Act, which will counter illegal goods online and help expose algorithms which may impact the right to privacy.
