The Data Subject's Burden Of Proof In Establishing The Harm Suffered And Claiming Compensation

Turkish Constitutional Court has issued a landmark decision on the Individual Application with application number 2018/14040 dated June 30, 2021 ("the Decision")¹ wherein it laid out procedurally valid options for introducing liability actions against data controllers. Even though the Constitutional Court dismissed the case -due to not exhaustion of ordinary legal remedies -without going into the merits, the decision is noteworthy since the Constitutional Court, for the first time, established the procedural guidelines for individual complainants who raise issues of liability and compensation in data protection actions.

The background of the Individual Application is a claim by the Applicant who requested that the Constitutional Court establishes the criminal liability of three private legal entities ("Companies") and Information and Communication Technologies Authority, ("ICTA"), due to having stored and unlawfully processed the Applicant's internet traffic