Data Protection Laws In Turkey

In light of recent lawsuits regarding the violation of individual rights by not removing internet content and failing to implement court rulings in that respect, it is timely to examine the state of the law regarding the protection of personal data. In Turkey, data protection is not regulated under a single coherent code, but rather is governed by provisions scattered among many different laws and regulations in an ad hoc manner. Similarly, the term "personal data" is not defined under Turkish laws, however based on the precedents of the International Court of Human Rights it is understood to cover all information regarding an identifiable person, such as age, gender, place of birth, medical records, criminal records, education data and other private information.