The Right to Privacy in Thailand: Privacy International Submission to Human Rights Committee collection and analysis of content and metadata, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights noted that: “the aggregation of information commonly referred to as “metadata” may give an insight into an individual’s behaviour, social relationships, private preferences and identity that go beyond even that conveyed by accessing the content of a private communication”.7 More recently, the Court of Justice of the European Union confirmed and elaborated on its jurisprudence, by noting that metadata “is liable to allow very precise conclusions to be drawn concerning the private lives of the persons whose data has been retained, such as everyday habits, permanent or temporary places of residence, daily or other movements, the activities carried out, the social relationships of those persons and the social environments frequented by them […]. In particular, that data provides the means […] of establishing a profile of the individuals concerned, information that is no less sensitive, having regard to the right to privacy, than the actual content of communications.”8 This conclusion, confirmed by other human rights experts and reflected in some conclusions of the Human Rights Committee, reflects the fact that with the advancement of telecommunications and telecommunications’ interception technologies, there is no justification for making distinctions in legal protections based on the nature of the data collected.9 3. Social media monitoring as an interference with privacy Privacy International is particularly concerned at the increasing monitoring of social media and other internet based communications services for the purpose of identifying political dissent, often in pursuant of prosecutions under the overbroad crime of lèse majesté and related crimes, which result into unlawful intrusion into people’s privacy and have a chilling effect on freedom of expression. Social media monitoring in Thailand is conducted by police, the military and other agencies. But beyond its security agencies, the government has empowered networks of citizens whom it encourages to denounce those who post online content considered contrary to government policies. The Thai government has deployed substantial resources in order to surveil the population over social media. The Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) – the police unit that specialises in cyber-crime – has deployed a 30-person team that operates around the clock, scanning online postings and following up complaints from the public on cybercrimes, including royal defamation.10 The military has also set up an “Army Cyber Centre” dedicated 7 8 9 10 Report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, The Right to Privacy in the Digital Age, U.N. Doc. A/HRC/27/37 (30 June 2014), paragraph 19. Tele2 Sverige AB v. Post- Och telestyrelsen (C-203/15); Secretary of State for the Home Department v. Tom Watson et. al. (C-698/16), Joined Cases, Court of Justice of the European Union, Grand Chamber, Judgment (21 December 2016). See, inter alia, Concluding Observations on the Seventh Periodic Report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Human Rights Committee, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/GBR/CO/7 (17 August 2015) and Concluding Observations on the Initial Report of South Africa, Human Rights Committee, U.N. Doc. CCPR/C/ZAF/ CO/1 (27 April 2016). Belford, A., Special Report: Thai junta hits royal critics with record jail time, Reuters, 3 September 2015. Available at: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/04/us-military-convictions-thailand-specialidUSKCN0R400X20150904 3