Thailand: ICT Ministry seeking access to internet users’ emails and logins

[webfact]

Thailand: ICT Ministry seeking access to internet users’ emails and logins
by Asian Correspondent Staff

BANGKOK: -- APPARENTLY the Thai junta is attempting to take a page of out George Orwell’s dystopian novel ‘1984’, as it is looking to pass several amendments to the Computer Crime Act (CCA) that would allow the state to act like Big Brother, overseeing activities on encrypted websites.

According to documents leaked by the Thai Netizen Network (TNN) on Thursday, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is proposing an amendment to Article 20 of the CCA, which would give the ministry the green light to access and censor encrypted content on websites.

One of the leaked documents mention giving authorities the power to “issue a regulation for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to delete or restrain the dissemination of computer data, in accordance with evolving technology”.

Full story: https://asiancorrespondent.com/2016/05/thailand-computer-crime-act-emails-logins/

-- ASIAN CORRESPONDENT 2016-05-31

[ramrod711]

Hard to believe, just when you think they can't possibly stick their feet any further down their throats...

[Snig27]

They just get darker and darker. Amnesty bills are nothing when put next to the nefarious totalitarian stuff this lot have enacted in the past year or two.

[jerojero]

Getting very concerning. Step after step towards N.Korean-style information control. Will democracy ever return to Thailand?

[jamesbrock]

Getting very concerning. Step after step towards N.Korean-style information control. Will democracy ever return to Thailand?

Must stop the truth at all costs.

If anyone still harboured any doubts that Thailand is modelling itself on North Korea, surely this is enough to dispel them?

[z42]

It's almost certainly going to end in tears. This despotic outfit just don't know when to stop. The veneer of order will slip as almost every section of society are having their buttons pushed. I am certain that once a campaign against kicks off the backtracking will start. But they haven't learned from the single gateway feedback obviously

[Caveat Emptor]

Is anyone really surprise and I'm tempted to say " we ain't seen nothing yet. " There, I've said it.

[jamesbrock]

Is anyone really surprise and I'm tempted to say " we ain't seen nothing yet. " There, I've said it.

We certainly haven't.

The walls will come crashing down any day now, and it won't be pretty.

Wife & I won't be coming back to Thailand for a long time.

Edited May 31, 2016 by jamesbrock

[marko kok prong]

Sounds ominous but the government hardly seems to be a model of competance,ditto the rest of the country,so wether they could actually do this i would be highly surprised.

[chrisinth]

What an article. Scaremongery at its finest.

However, if there is any truth at all in the 'leak', and this has been suggested by anyone in anyway involved with IT security, the very mention of 'banning SSL' is mind-boggling and the person should be removed from their area of work immediately.

Point of note, none of my business email accounts will work without encryption, none of my cloud access either and this is not ISP controlled par se.

[bobmac10]

These clowns just don't get it, but that's because they're not interested in listening.

They always had an agenda, which has not yet been revealed, but we are beginning to see glimpses of it.

Of course they will continue charging ahead not listening, not seeing until the people finally have had enough.

Then the inevitable will occur.

[clockman]

But TI.T. maybe just wishful thinking. China still cannot control it.!

[seajae]

very bad move by the govt, this is not needed at all and will simply stir more trouble for them, time for them to pull their heads out of the sand and pull into line the one that is suggesting this be done. It is one thing to stop the reds/conflict causing elements from stirring up problems but this is way over the top and not needed.

[jlwilliamsjr18]

Going so far that there's no turning back. This strategy could very likely be the step too far. We all know why, but is it worth it? Lets all hope, pray or wish for common sense and dignity to be kept intact.

[IamNoone88]

Service providers would withdrawal services rather than comply - if it came to it. And users would simply seek new entrant alternatives.

[shavedPotter]

It is looking like this would be a good time to buy stock in companies that manufacture biometric devices. I suspect this will be a global trend and not just in Thailand.

[shirtless]

These guys are control freaks, i have no idea where its going to stop but there really has never been any freedom of speech here . Thais need to wake up , as the country and their future is being lost at a wholesale rate.

[Orac]

Getting very concerning. Step after step towards N.Korean-style information control. Will democracy ever return to Thailand?

Must stop the truth at all costs.

If anyone still harboured any doubts that Thailand is modelling itself on North Korea, surely this is enough to dispel them?

Not sure if they still do but Thailand used to supply quite a bit of N Korean internet equipment (though some of it did turn out to be nuclear centrifuges). I would be very surprised if a lot of the technology needed to implement their 'digital economy' plan isn't already up and running.

[chinostar]

If this is true, then it means the end of foreign business, investments and exodus of foreigners and rich sensible Thai.

[macksview]

These guys are control freaks, i have no idea where its going to stop but there really has never been any freedom of speech here . Thais need to wake up , as the country and their future is being lost at a wholesale rate.

yep, i don't how many stations to the end of the line, maybe the tracks will be dug up before.

very dangerous mob, hopefully it does not come down to uniformed farm boys pointing weapons at their friends and family.

[Swiss1960]

First of all, the fact that the article talks about SSL (instead of TLS) shows that some people do not really understand what they talk about. Fact is that SSL - not only V2, but also V3 - is viewed as cracked as it has to many security flaws in it and some organisations like the PCI SSC (Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council) have ordered all members to disapprove the use of SSL for their websites and TLS 1.1 is the current MINIMUM level required for such transactions.

Second, I would advise all readers to check their browser security settings and ensure that they unclick the SSL V2, SSL V3 and TLS V1.0 options in their security settings. All "important" websites such als mail, banking, facebook etc. DO connect through TLS V1.1 or higher nowadays and using "secure" connections through SSL is like NOT having encrypted links at all.

Third, all that would happen if the ISP's would disallow the use of encrypted connections through SSL/TLS would be that you could not connect to your websites anymore. In no way could the ISP's read your data, TLS V1.1 and TLS V2.0 as of today are not yet broken security protocols, only SSL is.

Fourth, as another poster said, I do not believe that any reputable website provider (facebook, banks, microsoft etc) will change their websites to allow unencrypted connections for countries that decide to disallow the use of encryption.

Edit: Lost point 3 when posting, added again

Edited May 31, 2016 by Swiss1960

[SOTIRIOS]

...duhh...

...they lay charges...then never follow through....

...it would help if they actually started arresting people....

...then everybody else would not have to pay the price....

...they let the first 'rotten tooth' go....never did anything about it....now they have a mouth full....

...sad....

[smedly]

another uneducated and poorly thought out plan

email security SSL etc is designed to keep peoples private sensitive personal communication -----PRIVATE and secure-----, not just in Thailand but across the globe on the WWW, many email providers/hosting companies (like mine) will not allow unsecured traffic to and from their servers

Although the source for the OP is somewhat unreliable I will call this for what it is (if true) - completely and utterly ridiculous and unworkable, you gotta wonder who is coming up with this stupidity

[Traveling Sailor]

Getting very concerning. Step after step towards N.Korean-style information control. Will democracy ever return to Thailand?

Must stop the truth at all costs.

If anyone still harboured any doubts that Thailand is modelling itself on North Korea, surely this is enough to dispel them?

And yet, there are still people on this forum who ridicule me for not wanting to live in Thailand any more. Welcome to the newest totalitarian regime.

It will probably take a lot more before some people wake up and smell the brown covered roses.

[chainarong]

They just get darker and darker. Amnesty bills are nothing when put next to the nefarious totalitarian stuff this lot have enacted in the past year or two.

You hit the nail on the head with the word dark , U can go to the dark side of the web ( dark web ) where no one can find you, only draw back is you share it with Rock spiders ( pedo's ), druggies, traffickers and the underworld at large,

[NextStationBangkok]

How to sign-out from Thaivisa, and clear my data.

[chainarong]

Getting very concerning. Step after step towards N.Korean-style information control. Will democracy ever return to Thailand?

Must stop the truth at all costs.

If anyone still harboured any doubts that Thailand is modelling itself on North Korea, surely this is enough to dispel them?

And yet, there are still people on this forum who ridicule me for not wanting to live in Thailand any more. Welcome to the newest totalitarian regime.

It will probably take a lot more before some people wake up and smell the brown covered roses.

I would say you make a good case for giving it a miss , going by this mornings paper, business confidence has also.

[chainarong]

Even though I am pretty much to old for any excitement , time to join the Dao Din.................................

[chainarong]

How to sign-out from Thaivisa, and clear my data.

Your comments would be quite mild to what is being transmitted beyond the Junta's jurisdiction , frankly they are slow learners , this they will eventually find out, what we all could do is use a book of code and just use that. now there's an idea.

[mike324]

Google, Facebook, Hotmail, etc would never provide the password.....the General is on a sinking ship