After the government admitted on Tuesday that its coronavirus response center was sharing mobile tracking data with the Ministry of Defense (MOD), political activist Srisuwan Janya filed a complaint on Wednesday to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) asking them to investigate the issue.
He asked the NHRC to open an investigation into the MOD, the Department of Disease Control, and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
“If the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) cannot handle the outbreak with normal practices, they should all quit,” he said.
“These people are used to wielding their power so they believe that they can use limitless power to check on people’s personal information,” he added.
Citing Article 36 of the constitution, Srisuwan said the three state agencies have shared people’s personal information without their formal consent which could constitute as a violation of their human rights.
He said that the State of Emergency cannot be used to justify such action or else the article on protecting personal privacy would not have been written within the constitution.
To share such information would require a court order and he urged the NHRC to provide answers to whether they will investigate the issue to the public within 1-2 weeks.
NBTC’s secretary-general Takorn Tantasith said on Tuesday that the coronavirus patients have willingly provided their phone number so the government can track their former location.
“Rest assured that we are only checking location, we cannot look at the data without a court order,” he said.
