Japan’s Naver Corp, maker of ubiquitous chatting app Line, has agreed to cooperate with Thai police to share records of “suspicious” users, according to the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD).
Yesterday, TCSD chief Pol Maj Gen Pisit Paoin told Post Today that he had discussed the issue with the Japanese firm earlier and received the green light from them to track messages detrimental to Thailand’s security.
Regarding yesterday’s statement by Naver Corp that they hadn’t received any requests from Thai police, Pisit said that the statement was just part of the company’s PR strategy to protect its business. Thailand is the third-biggest country for Line, after Japan and Taiwan, with over 15 million users.
Pisit vowed to pursue its operation in a quiet manner so as to minimize the public uproar (LOL), and continue their operation in a legal manner.
The TCSD’s initiative has recently faced a public uproar as Thai smartphone users (a.k.a. everyone) are vociferously opposed to the idea.
Thailand’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister said his ministry believes that requesting Line user information is “a violation of privacy” and “unnecessary.”
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and her nephew Panthongtae Shinawatra also expressed their sharp disagreements with the TCSD’s policy.
This morning, the Thai Netizen Network issued a letter demanding that the TSCD be transparent about their mission to access Line users chat logs. The online activist group also requested that the police and the government stop abusing the national Computer Crime Act to stir fear among Thai internet users.
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