reader Posted May 21, 2020 Posted May 21, 2020 From Bangkok Post Line app has come under criticism after its recent update includes a new feature that shows which Line Official Accounts (OA) users are following as well as users' followers for others to see. OA is commonly used by brands and businesses to stay connected with Line users. Dr Nawanan Theera-Ampornpunt, a newly appointed member of the Personal Data Protection Committee, told the Bangkok Post Line's latest update conflicts with the "privacy by design" principle. Line did not inform users of the app or update them about new features, he said, noting the app was updated several days ago. If this affects only small groups, that would not be a major issue, but Line has a massive user base, particularly in Thailand, where 45 million users have access and the app is commonly used for communication in daily life, said Dr Nawanan. "Whether to disclose that data should be the right of the user," he said. "This is not the developer's business." Line should turn off this feature by default to ensure privacy protection and let users decide whether they want to opt in, said Dr Nawanan. To manually turn off the feature, users are recommended to go to the app's settings, profile, and tick out the "Show follow info" box. Line Thailand issued a statement saying this feature would make it easier for users to check the number and OA names, along with other Line users that he or she follows. It lets others see users' followed accounts to "suggest these accounts to others with shared interests". "Only the number and names of the Line Official Accounts as well as names of other Line users followed by each user are shown, " said Line. Line apologised for the delayed communication and explanation for the "following" feature. "Line Thailand takes all the blame and aims to solve this matter as quickly as possible," it indicated. Quote
spoon Posted May 21, 2020 Posted May 21, 2020 I just checked mine after reading this and for my case, the show follow info box is ticked off by default. I guess LINE has solved the issue. Quote
hank75 Posted May 22, 2020 Posted May 22, 2020 I saw this a few days ago but did not realize it was new....I thought it had been there all along and I was getting old. Checked my own Line but this option wasn’t activated, unsure why. And now it has disappeared off my contact’s pages too. But you can still opt to “Follow” them Quote
