DES Ministry to propose bill to protect people from online scams

Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society is to propose a draft bill, to amend the existing Technology Crime Suppression Decree, by requiring communication service providers to be more responsible for protecting clients’ confidential information and to introduce higher penalties for those who sell their clients’ information without their consent.


DES Permanent Secretary Professor Visit Visitsora-ath said today that commercial banks will also be required to be more vigilant in protecting their clients from being cheated by online scammers.


For instance, he said that the maximum prison sentence for the unauthorised sale of confidential information would, under the draft, be increased from one year to five.


He also said that the draft bill is currently being scrutinised by the Council of State, after which it will be sent to the DES minister, Prasert Chantararuangthong, and then to the cabinet for approval, before being forwarded to parliament for deliberation.


Prasert said today that the DES Ministry has worked with Google on the launch of the ‘Google Play Protect’ program, to shield people from online scammers.


He claimed that the program has managed to intercept 41,000 attempts by scammers trying to get access to the bank accounts of their targets.

DES Ministry to propose bill to protect people from online s