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ARTICLE · 13 MARCH 2025

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Overview Of The Guideline On Special Categories Of Personal Data By The Turkish Data Protection Authority

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The Turkish Data Protection Authority's new Guideline refines processing conditions for special categories of personal data, removing distinctions and expanding legal grounds.

TurkeyPrivacy
Kemal Altug Ozgun
Kemal Altug Ozgun
Sena Karaduman İşlek
Sena Karaduman İşlek
Beste Bayrak
Beste Bayrak
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The Turkish Data Protection Authority's new Guideline refines processing conditions for special categories of personal data, removing distinctions and expanding legal grounds. It provides clarity on compliance steps, updates to processing conditions, and data security measures. Data controllers must revise policies to align with these changes.

The Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority ("Authority") published the Guideline on the Processing of Special Categories of Personal Data1 ("Guideline") on 26.02.2025. According to the Law on the Protection of Personal Data No. 6698 ("Law"), personal data related to race, ethnic origin, political opinion, philosophical belief, religion, religious sect or other beliefs, appearance, membership in associations, foundations or trade unions, health data, sexual life, criminal convictions and security measures, as well as biometric and genetic data, are considered special categories of personal data. The conditions for

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