Privacy

Introduction

Definitions

General

Aberdeen Asset Management (Thailand) Limited is committed to protecting any personal information shared with us. We take privacy seriously and we will only ever collect and use personal information where it is necessary and lawful to do so.

This Privacy Notice applies to Aberdeen Asset Management (Thailand) Limited and contains important information about what personal information we collect; what we do with that information; who we may share it with and why; and your choices and rights when it comes to the personal information you have given us.

We may need to make changes to our Privacy Notice; so please check our website for updates from time to time. If there are important changes to how we handle your personal information; we may contact you to let you know.

Aberdeen Asset Management (Thailand) Limited is a subsidiary of abrdn plc; a global business providing a range of savings and investments products and solutions to meet customer and client needs.

Personal information we collect and use

We may collect and use personal information including:

• Information about who you are for identification and security purposes e.g. your Full Name, Date of Birth, Gender, Marital Status, Country of birth, National Identification Card Number, Nationality, Passport Number, Expiry Date and Place of Issuance, Occupation and employment details including job title, salary and employer’s address;
• Information to allow us to contact you e.g. Address (current address in Thailand and Registered home address if different), Telephone (mobile) number, Email address;
• Information connected with your product or service with us e.g. bank account and sort code
• Information about your contact with us e.g. phone calls, emails / letters;
• Information that is automatically connected e.g. via cookies when you visit one of our websites ;
• Information described as ‘sensitive personal information i.e. information pertaining to your race, ethnic origin, political opinions, cult, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual behaviour, criminal records, health, disability, trade union information, genetic data, biometric data, or of any data which may affect you in the same manner, as prescribed in Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019) ("PDPA"). Such sensitive personal information will only be collected and used where it’s needed to provide the product or service you have requested or to comply with our legal obligations, and where we have also obtained your explicit consent to process such information; and
• Information on persons connected to you, where required to provide the agreed product or service e.g. name, date of birth, nationality, National ID number or Passport Number of your spouse or beneficial owner.

If you have a distributor / broker / agent, the information we collect and use will most likely have been provided by them on your behalf.

Why we collect and use your personal information

We take your privacy seriously and we will only ever collect and use your information where it is necessary and lawful to do so. We will collect and use your information only where we can satisfy one of the lawful processing conditions set out in the data protection laws. These include:

• Where it’s necessary to provide the product or service you have requested e.g. if you wish to invest in one of our funds or products we will require some personal information which may include your name, address, date of birth, and bank account details;
• Where it’s necessary for us to meet our legal or regulatory obligations e.g. to send you Annual Statements, tell you about changes to Terms and Conditions or for the detection and prevention of fraud;
• For our legitimate interests where such interest does not override yours as the data subject e.g. to develop new products and services for our customers;
• For the performance of a task we require to carry out in the public interest; and
• You have given us your explicit consent to use your personal information for an agreed purpose. For example, if we are transferring your personal information outside of Thailand for processing activities or if we are collecting and using your sensitive personal information or for certain types of marketing and research, and/or call handling. You may choose to opt-out of such activities by reaching out to us via our contact information below.

Subject to the above, we may use your personal information for the following purposes:

• Account opening including information verification and credit checks
• Order Handling
• Unit Allocation
• Regulatory and Compliance Reporting
• Service Request (Amendment, Online trading, Withdraw, Redemption, Closure and Tax Certificate)
• Payment Application
• Dividends Confirmation
• Marketing and Research including analysis and promotion with your explicit consent
• Call Handling (Incoming and outgoing) - with your explicit consent.

You will be required to provide the personal information as required to be processed by or on behalf of us, as described above. If you do not agree to provide such personal information to us in accordance with this Notice, we may not be able to provide you with the product(s) or service(s) requested or comply with any of our contractual obligations owing to customers.

Proper Management and Protection of Personal Information

We take personal information and security very seriously and we strive to comply with our obligations at all times. Any personal information which is collected and used by us in any way will have appropriate measures in place to properly manage and protect your personal information. We have implemented the following measures:

• Established an organizational culture to promote and ensure protection of all personal information held by us;
• Appointed personal information controllers to oversee the proper handling of your personal information;
• established internal company rules based on Personal Information Protection Laws and guidelines issued by the relevant authority to ensure proper handling of personal information;
• educated our employees to ensure that they understand the importance of personal information protection and are thoroughly familiar with all relevant rules and guidelines;
• established a personal information management register and enforcement of appropriate restrictions on access to personal information; and
• implemented appropriate and reasonable security measures [including a secure storage method with restricted access controls] to prevent unauthorized access to, or leakage, destruction or alteration of, personal information. Our security controls are aligned to industry standards and good practice; providing an appropriate control environment that manages risks to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your personal information.

Disclosure of Personal Information to Third Parties

We may share your personal information with third parties we work with for the purposes outlined in ‘Why we collect and use your information’.

We will only disclose your Personal Information to such third parties where it is lawful to do so and in line with our obligations under data protection laws.

We will share your information with:

• Other parts [subsidiaries, holding companies, related corporations or associates of ours whether present or future] of abrdn plc who support us in the provision of the product or service you have;
• Companies and partners we have carefully chosen to support us, both inside and outside of Thailand;
• Credit reference agencies for the purposes of conducting a credit check and ID verification
• Your distributor / broker / agent where this is required as part of the product or service you have agreed with us;
• Our regulators in and outside of Thailand including The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Thailand, the Financial Conduct Authority and the Information Commissioner's Office (the ICO) in the UK and Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS);
• Appointed agencies [government agencies, public agencies, agencies] responsible for supervising the provision of services;
• Law enforcement agencies e.g. for the prevention and detection of crime, pursuit of legal proceedings; and
• Other third parties where required to support an organization restructure, amalgamation, merger or sale.

By disclosing your personal information to such third parties we shall ensure that those persons shall treat your Personal Information confidential and shall not use such information for any purposes other than within the scope specified by us.

We will only instruct a third party to process your personal information on our behalf where we have obtained the necessary assurance that they will properly manage and protect your information to the required standards under applicable laws. Moreover, before we provide and disclose your personal information to such service providers we require, by way of a written contract or similar means, assurance they will process this data strictly in compliance with our instructions and agreed terms of use including appropriate measures to properly handle personal information. We periodically verify their ongoing compliance with these obligations.

How long we keep your information

To provide your product or investment, and meet our legal and regulatory obligations, we keep your personal information and copies of records we create (e.g. calls with us) while you are a client or customer of ours. 

Even when you no longer have a relationship with us, we are required to keep information for different legal and regulatory reasons. The length of time will vary and we regularly review our retention periods to make sure they comply with all laws and regulations.

At the end of the applicable retention period, personal data must either be erased or anonymised. In some cases, no action will be required if data cannot be allocated to an identifiable person at the end of the retention period.

Your rights under law

You have a number of rights under data protection laws which may be exercised in certain circumstances. These are:

1. Right to be Informed

You shall be informed of the purposes for collection, use or disclosure of your personal data, on or before collecting your personal data. We do this by way of our Privacy Notice on our website and included within various other product and service related documents, as appropriate.

2. Right to Withdraw Consent

You have the right, at any time, to withdraw any consent given, or deemed to have given under the Personal Data Protection Act, in respect of the collection, use or disclosure of your personal data. We will then process your request within a reasonable time.

3. Right of Access

You may request access to and obtain copy of your personal data, or for information about how the data was obtained by us as permitted under data protection laws. However, we may withhold information where permitted under Personal Data Protection Act such as where it is permitted by law or pursuant to a court order, and such access and obtaining a copy of the personal data would adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.

4. Right to Receive and Transfer

Individual have the right to request to transfer their personal information to their designated data controllers of personal information if their requests fulfil the conditions stipulated by the Personal Data Protection Act. We will then process your request within a reasonable time.

5. Right to Object

You have the right to object the collection, use, or disclosure of your personal data, at any time as permitted under the Personal Data Protection Act. We will process your request in a reasonable time.

6. Right to Erasure and Destroy

You have the right to request to erase or destroy your personal data, or anonymize the personal data to become anonymous data where the following ground applies:

1. Your personal data is no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which it was collected, used or disclosed;
2. You withdraw consent on which the collection, use or disclosure is based on, and where there is no legal ground for such collection; and
3. You object to the collection, use, or disclosure of the Personal Data as referred to within section 32 of the Personal Data Protection Act.
4. Right to Restrict

You have the right to request to restrict the use of your personal data as permitted within the Personal Data Protection Act.

If you wish to exercise any of your rights under law, please contact us to request the Data Subject Rights Request form. Alternatively you can also notify us any changes using our contact details below.

How to contact us

If you have any questions about our Privacy Notice or the information we collect or use about you, please contact:

APAC Data Privacy Office
Aberdeen Asset Management (Thailand) Limited
28th Floor Bangkok City Tower,
179 South Sathorn Road,
Thungmahamek, Sathorn,
Bangkok 10120
Thailand
Email: APAC.DPOffice@abrdn.com

How to make a complaint

We will always strive to collect, use and safeguard your personal information in line with data protection laws. If you do not believe we have handled your information as set out in this Privacy Notice, please let us know immediately and we will do our utmost to make things right.

While we hope that we can resolve any complaints for you, you do have the option complain to your local data protection authority e.g. SEC in Thailand. This is available to you whether or not you have exhausted our complaints procedure. 

You can contact Office of the Personal Data Protection Committee at the following address:

Office of the Personal Data Protection Committee, Office of the Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Digital Economy and Society
5st December, B.E.2550
120 Moo 3 Bldg. B, 6-9 Floor
Chaengwattana Road
Laksi, Bangkok 10210

E-mail: pdpc@mdes.go.th
Tel: 66 2 142 1033