Assessment of the Personal Data Protection Board's Decision No. 2018/10 and of the Communiqués on Fulfilling the Obligation to Inform and on Applications to the Data Controller

12 March 2018Murat Volkan DülgerCommentary

Introduction

This work was written in Turkish. The summary on this page is a translation; the citation gives the original title in parentheses.

In Türkiye, where the right to the protection of personal data attracts more interest with each passing day, the authorities have correspondingly sought, since Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data (KVKK) entered into force on 7 April 2016, to explain the subject in detail through legislation by publishing regulations, communiqués and decisions on the field of personal data protection. Although work addressing the right to the protection of personal data goes back a long way, the first concrete step on the subject was taken when the right was placed under constitutional guarantee by paragraph 3, added to Article 20 of the Constitution by the constitutional amendment of 2010. This was very important in that personal data were considered worthy of protection at constitutional level and, although regulated under the heading of privacy of private life, were mentioned separately from the concept of private life.

As the need for the right to the protection of personal data to be regulated in full grew over time after the constitutional amendment, the KVKK finally entered into force on 7 April 2016, and an attempt was thereby made to meet that need to a large extent. As I have noted in my earlier pieces on the subject, the right to the protection of personal data is connected with many rights and denotes a very broad concept. Particularly given the point technology has reached, whatever activity one is engaged in, the transactions involved cannot be carried out without personal data being collected, retained or processed in some form.