Thailand Wins: Notify gov’t everywhere you go with new COVID tracking app

Because it’s never too soon to declare “mission accomplished,” a new app will put Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha’s favorite refrain when addressing  the nation –  “Thailand will win!” – into your hand while tracking every place you go.

Polawat Witoonkolchit of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society said Thursday at the Government House that the COVID-19 task force has developed a smartphone app called Thai Chana (“Thailand Wins”) to track people’s movements – solely for public health purposes, of course.

The application will launch tomorrow along with further details.

Polawat explained that it will require businesses such as restaurants, barber shops and stores to register online and post a QR code for customers to scan with their smartphones.

Customers would use the app to check in and out of venues, Polawat said. Anyone who has visited a venue where they might have been at risk will get a notification that they should be tested for COVID-19. 

Addressing privacy concerns, Polawat said registration would only require people’s phone numbers, which may provide little relief given that all SIM card owners are already registered with the government. Don’t worry, he said, all personal information will be kept secret by the authorities.

“This is the relaxation for the new normal, and all of us are responsible for it,” Polawat said. “Initially, it might have some obstacles, but if we all cooperate, Thailand will definitely win.”

It was not said whether an effort would be made to require its use by all members of the public.

Source - Coconuts / The Thaiger

As #Facebook scandal mushrooms, Zuckerberg vows to 'step up'

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg vowed Wednesday to "step up" to fix problems at the social media giant, as it fights a snowballing scandal over the hijacking of personal data from millions of its users.

"We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you," Zuckerberg said, in his first public comments on the harvesting of Facebook user data by a British firm linked to Donald Trump's 2016 campaign.

Writing on his Facebook page, Zuckerberg announced new steps to rein in the leakage of data to outside developers and third-party apps, while giving users more control over their information through a special toolbar.

Zuckerberg said measures had been in place since 2014 to prevent precisely the sort of abuse revealed at the weekend.

"But we also made mistakes, there's more to do, and we need to step up and do it," he said.

The scandal erupted when a whistleblower revealed that British data consultant Cambridge Analytica (CA) had created psychological profiles on 50 million Facebook users via a personality prediction app, created by a researcher named Aleksandr Kogan.

The app was downloaded by 270,000 people, but also scooped up their friends' data without consent -- as was possible under Facebook's rules at the time.

Facebook says it discovered last week that CA may not have deleted the data as it certified.

"This was a breach of trust between Kogan, Cambridge Analytica and Facebook," Zuckerberg wrote. "But it was also a breach of trust between Facebook and the people who share their data with us and expect us to protect it."

"We need to fix that."

- Probe by special counsel? -

Zuckerberg's admission follows another day of damaging accusations against the world's biggest social network as calls mounted for investigations on both sides of the Atlantic.

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