{"id":180,"date":"2022-08-16T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/kisisel-verilerin-korunmasi-hukukunda-temel-kavramlar\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T16:39:50","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T16:39:50","slug":"basic-concepts-personal-data-protection-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/en\/kisisel-verilerin-korunmasi-hukukunda-temel-kavramlar\/","title":{"rendered":"Basic Concepts in Personal Data Protection Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pm\" data-utu-pm=\"1\">\n<p class=\"pm-giris\">which entered into force on 7 April 2016, <strong>Protection of Personal Data<\/strong> Law governs the conditions for processing personal data. In this article, we will first set out the basic concepts.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"pm-ozet\" aria-label=\"In brief\">\n<p class=\"pm-etiket\">In brief<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Under personal data protection legislation, personal data is defined as any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person.<\/li>\n<li>Data relating to legal entities are, as a rule, not considered personal data; information such as name and surname, Turkish ID number (TCKN), IP address, location and voice recordings are personal data.<\/li>\n<li>Special categories of personal data, such as race, religion, health, criminal convictions, and biometric and genetic data, are listed exhaustively in the Law.<\/li>\n<li>The data controller determines the purposes and means of processing; the data processor processes the data within the purposes and methods determined by the data controller.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"pm-not\">\n<p class=\"pm-etiket\">Currency note<\/p>\n<p>This article was prepared in accordance with the legislation and practice in force on the date of its publication. The legislation on the protection of personal data, in particular the conditions for processing special categories of personal data, may have changed since then. You are advised to consult a lawyer on the current position.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<details class=\"pm-ic\" open>\n<summary>Contents<\/summary>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"#kisisel-veri\">What is personal data?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#ozel-nitelikli-veri\">Special categories of personal data<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#veri-sorumlusu\">Data controller, data processor and data subject<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#veri-isleme\">Processing of personal data<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#sss\">Frequently asked questions<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#iletisim\">Consultation request<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/details>\n<section id=\"kisisel-veri\">\n<h2>What Is Personal Data?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"pm-tanim\">Personal data is defined in the Law as <strong>\u201cany information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person\u201d<\/strong> is how it is defined.<\/p>\n<p>As is clear from this definition, for a piece of information to qualify as personal data;<\/p>\n<div class=\"pm-not\">\n<p class=\"pm-etiket\">Three elements of personal data<\/p>\n<p>- relate to a natural person,<\/p>\n<p>- concern a natural person whose identity is identified or identifiable, and<\/p>\n<p>- The element of the information relating to a person, in the sense required by the Law, must be present.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In order to grasp what the concept of personal data is, it is useful to examine these criteria in detail:<\/p>\n<h3>The Information Must Relate to a Natural Person<\/h3>\n<p>The personal data protected by the Law are only data relating to natural persons. Consequently, data relating to legal persons are, as a rule, not regarded as personal data.<\/p>\n<h3>The Identity Must Be Identified or Identifiable<\/h3>\n<p>For information relating to a natural person to be regarded as personal data, the identity of that natural person must be identified or identifiable. A person being identified means that he or she can be distinguished from the other persons in the group to which he or she belongs. Being identifiable refers to the situation in which, although the person cannot be distinguished from others using the available data, he or she can be distinguished with certain additional data.<\/p>\n<div class=\"pm-ikili\">\n<div class=\"pm-kart\">\n<p class=\"pm-etiket\">Identified person<\/p>\n<p>A person who can be distinguished from the other persons in the group to which he or she belongs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pm-kart\">\n<p class=\"pm-etiket\">Identifiable person<\/p>\n<p>A person who cannot be distinguished by means of the existing data but can be distinguished with certain additional data.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pm-not\">\n<p class=\"pm-etiket\">Criterion of access to additional information<\/p>\n<p>If access to the additional information referred to is not prohibited by law and does not present significant difficulty for the data controller, the data are accepted as personal data.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3>Relating To<\/h3>\n<p>In general, the requirement of relating to a natural person is met where the information is directly about that natural person. However, it is accepted that the requirement of relating to may also be met in certain cases where the information is not directly about the person.<\/p>\n<p>Any information that meets the three conditions stated above is regarded as personal data. By way of example, information such as first name and surname, address, Turkish Republic identity number, telephone number, tax number, marital status, occupation, date of birth, gender, CV, criminal record, association membership, salary, personnel information, IP address, IMEI number, location information, photographs, video, audio recordings, medical reports, blood group, fingerprints, eye colour, DNA information, disability status, and travel and shopping information is personal data.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"ozel-nitelikli-veri\">\n<h2>Special Categories of Personal Data<\/h2>\n<p>Special categories of personal data;<\/p>\n<ul class=\"pm-liste\">\n<li>Persons\u2019 race, ethnic origin, political opinions, philosophical beliefs<\/li>\n<li>Religion, sect or other beliefs<\/li>\n<li>Dress and attire<\/li>\n<li>Membership of associations, foundations or trade unions,<\/li>\n<li>Health and sexual life<\/li>\n<li>Data relating to criminal convictions and security measures<\/li>\n<li>Biyometrik ve genetik verileri<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>are listed exhaustively in the Law. In other words, they are set out on a closed-list basis.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"veri-sorumlusu\">\n<h2>Data Controller, Data Processor and Data Subject<\/h2>\n<div class=\"pm-ikili\">\n<div class=\"pm-kart\">\n<p class=\"pm-etiket\">Veri Sorumlusu (Controller)<\/p>\n<p>The natural or legal person who determines the purposes <strong>and means of processing personal data and who establishes and manages the system <\/strong>is a natural or legal person.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pm-kart\">\n<p class=\"pm-etiket\">Data Processor (Processor)<\/p>\n<p>The person who processes personal data <strong>within the framework of the purposes and methods determined <\/strong>by the data controller.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"pm-tanim\">In short, the data subject is defined as <strong>\u201cthe natural person whose personal data are processed\u201d<\/strong> means.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"veri-isleme\">\n<h2>Processing of Personal Data<\/h2>\n<p class=\"pm-tanim\">the Law <strong>any operation performed on data, such as the collection, recording, storage, retention, alteration, reorganisation, disclosure, transfer, takeover, making available, classification or prevention of use of personal data, wholly or partly by automated means or by non-automated means provided that they form part of a data filing system,<\/strong> is defined as the processing of personal data.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"pm-cipler\" aria-label=\"Ki\u015fisel verilerin i\u015flenmesine \u00f6rnek i\u015flemler\">\n<li>Elde etme<\/li>\n<li>Kaydetme<\/li>\n<li>Depolama<\/li>\n<li>Muhafaza<\/li>\n<li>Alteration<\/li>\n<li>Rearrangement<\/li>\n<li>Disclosure<\/li>\n<li>Aktarma<\/li>\n<li>Devralma<\/li>\n<li>Classification<\/li>\n<li>Preventing its use<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"pm-not\">\n<p class=\"pm-etiket\">Hukuka uygunluk sebepleri<\/p>\n<p>In order to identify the grounds of lawfulness for processing personal data, it must first be determined whether a piece of data is personal data or special category personal data. This is because the Law sets out separately the general grounds of lawfulness and the grounds of lawfulness for processing special categories of data.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>For the rules on managing consent for commercial electronic messages, see our article on the <a href=\"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/en\/message-management-system\/\">Message Management System<\/a> for further details.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"sss\" class=\"pm-sss\">\n<h2>Protection of Personal Data: Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<details open>\n<summary>What is personal data under the Personal Data Protection Law?<\/summary>\n<div>\n<p>The Law defines personal data as any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. For this, the information must relate to a natural person, the person\u2019s identity must be identified or identifiable, and there must be an element of relation between the information and the person.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Is information belonging to companies personal data?<\/summary>\n<div>\n<p>Kanun&#8217;un korudu\u011fu ki\u015fisel veriler yaln\u0131zca ger\u00e7ek ki\u015filere ili\u015fkin verilerdir; t\u00fczel ki\u015filere ili\u015fkin veriler kural olarak ki\u015fisel veri say\u0131lmaz.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>What does identifiable person mean?<\/summary>\n<div>\n<p>It means that, although the person cannot be distinguished from others by the available data, they can be distinguished with additional data. If access to the additional information is not legally prohibited and does not create significant difficulty for the data controller, that data is considered personal data.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>What are special categories of personal data?<\/summary>\n<div>\n<p>Ki\u015filerin \u0131rk\u0131, k\u00f6keni, siyasi d\u00fc\u015f\u00fcncesi, felsefi inanc\u0131, dini, mezhebi veya di\u011fer inan\u00e7lar\u0131, k\u0131l\u0131k-k\u0131yafeti, dernek, vak\u0131f ya da sendika \u00fcyeli\u011fi, sa\u011fl\u0131\u011f\u0131, cinsel hayat\u0131, ceza mahk\u00fbmiyeti ve g\u00fcvenlik tedbirleriyle ilgili verileri ile biyometrik ve genetik verileri Kanun&#8217;da s\u0131n\u0131rl\u0131 olarak say\u0131lm\u0131\u015ft\u0131r.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<details>\n<summary>Which operations does the processing of personal data cover?<\/summary>\n<div>\n<p>Any operation performed on data, such as obtaining, recording, storing, retaining, altering, reorganising, disclosing, transferring, taking over, classifying or preventing the use of data, is considered processing of personal data.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"iletisim\" class=\"pm-form-kap\">\n<div class=\"pm-form-sol\">\n<p class=\"pm-etiket\">Consultation request<\/p>\n<h2>Do you have a question about the protection of personal data?<\/h2>\n<p>At UTU Hukuk Dan\u0131\u015fmanl\u0131k, we provide legal representation and advisory services in the field of company law.<\/p>\n<p>Fill in the form and we will call you. You can also contact us directly:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"pm-kanal\">\n<li><a href=\"tel:+905365931600\">+90 536 593 16 00<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"mailto:bilgi@utuhukuk.com\">bilgi@utuhukuk.com<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<form class=\"pm-form\" data-alan=\"\u015eirketler Hukuku\" novalidate action=\"\">\n<div class=\"pm-alan\"><label for=\"pm-ad\">Full name *<\/label><input id=\"pm-ad\" name=\"ad\" type=\"text\" autocomplete=\"name\" required><\/div>\n<div class=\"pm-alan\"><label for=\"pm-tel\">Phone *<\/label><input id=\"pm-tel\" name=\"tel\" type=\"tel\" autocomplete=\"tel\" inputmode=\"tel\" required><\/div>\n<div class=\"pm-alan\"><label for=\"pm-mail\">Email<\/label><input id=\"pm-mail\" name=\"mail\" type=\"email\" autocomplete=\"email\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"pm-alan\"><label for=\"pm-konu\">Your situation in brief<\/label><textarea id=\"pm-konu\" name=\"konu\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"\u00d6rne\u011fin: \u015eirketimizde m\u00fc\u015fteri verilerini i\u015fliyoruz, veri sorumlusu olarak hangi kurallara uymam\u0131z gerekti\u011fini \u00f6\u011frenmek istiyorum.\"><\/textarea><\/div>\n<div class=\"pm-bal\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><label for=\"pm-web\">Website<\/label><input id=\"pm-web\" name=\"website\" type=\"text\" tabindex=\"-1\" autocomplete=\"off\"><\/div>\n<p><label class=\"pm-onay\"><input name=\"kvkk\" type=\"checkbox\" required> <span>I consent to the processing of my personal data for this request and to being contacted.<\/span><\/label><br \/>\n<button type=\"submit\">Send request<\/button><\/p>\n<p class=\"pm-durum\" role=\"status\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"trp-form-language\" value=\"en\"\/><\/form>\n<\/section>\n<footer class=\"pm-imza\">\n<div class=\"pm-imza-logo\" aria-hidden=\"true\">UTU<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"pm-imza-ad\">UTU Hukuk ve Dan\u0131\u015fmanl\u0131k<\/p>\n<p>Since 2016 it has been providing legal and advisory services in Ankara in many areas, labour law in particular. <a href=\"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/en\/corporate-law\/\">Our company law practice \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"pm-uyari\">This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. You are advised to consult a lawyer about your specific situation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>7 Nisan 2016 tarihinde y\u00fcr\u00fcrl\u00fc\u011fe giren Ki\u015fisel Verilerin Korunmas\u0131 Kanunu, ki\u015fisel verilerin i\u015flenme \u015fartlar\u0131n\u0131 d\u00fczenlemektedir. Yaz\u0131m\u0131zda \u00f6ncelikle temel\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"elementor_canvas","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sirketler-hukuku"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":604,"href":"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180\/revisions\/604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utuhukuk.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}