The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) has announced that individuals who want to buy new SIM cards must have their faces and fingerprints recorded.
On 6 November 2017, NBTC Secretary-General Takorn Tantasith told the media that the Commission has asked all mobile phone operators in Thailand to collect customers’ digital personal data from fingerprint scanners and facial recognition technology. The new regulation will come into force on 15 December.
Takorn stated that this is to support the government’s policy to encourage electronic transactions in Thailand. The new identification technology can help prevent fraud, scams and forgery, and is also beneficial for national security.
“People can be certain that their private information will be kept safe and secret. This operation supports the government’s policy on electronic transactions to effectively collect information on mobile users. Identification also benefits national security and public safety,” said Takorn.
Photo from Droidsans
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