Digital Economy: PDPA Preparedness Series: Getting Consent to Collect and Use Personally Identifiable Information

On March 9, to over 140 attendees, AMCHAM Digital Economy Committee presented Getting Consent to Collect and Use Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in the third event on Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) preparedness event series. AMCHAM Digital Economy Committee Leader, Waleeporn Sayasit, T.C.C. Technology introduced guest speaker Pochara Arayakarnkul, Group CEO Bluebik Group.

In Thailand, the PDPA will come into effect on June 1, 2021 and all organizations that have access to personal data will need to comply. Getting consent is one of the cornerstones of PDPA compliance. Pochara defined what constitutes consent and how to manage consent through out the lifecycle of the consent. He also deep dived into six legal bases for processing data under PDPA without consent such as research, vital interest, contract, public task, legal obligation, or legitimate interest. As the basis is very subjective, balancing legitimate interest against individual’s rights and freedom is very crucial.

For data collected prior to June 1, companies can still use the data, but it is limited to the purposes in original consent. He shared case studies where consent is required such as tracking customer’s onsite behaviors to recommend products or when data is being transferred overseas. Privacy notice must be provided with comprehensive details prior to or by the time the personal data is collected – who is controller, what data will be collected, why the data must be collected, how will data be processed and used, and how long will data be retained. He emphasized that consent must be valid, freely given, specific, and non-deceptive.

Pochara mentioned that organizations must be aware of all touchpoints in their organization that collect data and shared tools for managing consent. The event was followed by a Question-and-Answer session moderated by Digital Economy Committee Leader, Peter Fischbach, ISM Recruitment.

Special thanks to AMCHAM’s Digital Committee Leaders, Peter Fischbach, ISM Technology Recruitment; Waleeporn Sayasit, T.C.C. Technology; and Kwanjit Sudsawad, Seagate Technology for organizing the event.

Full presentation is available on the Member Information Center.  Make sure to register for the next event in the PDPA series- Digital Economy Committee: PDPA Preparedness Series: Technical Considerations - Part 1