Data Protection In Türkiye - General Approach, Current Practices And The Processing Of Special Categories Of Personal Data

The primary legislation governing the protection of personal data in Türkiye is the Personal Data Protection Act No. 6698 (the “Law”), which came into force in 2016.

The Law, which was drafted on the basis of the European Council’s Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC, is influenced by the provisions of the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (“GDPR”), whilst its implementation is influenced by both the GDPR and the decisions of European data protection authorities.

The Law adopts similar objectives and fundamental concepts to the GDPR and contains provisions that are very similar in terms of the fundamental principles relating to the protection of personal data. However, the Law generally has a more limited, prescriptive and less detailed structure compared to the GDPR.