Resolution Taken by Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority

By taking notice of numerous applications regarding non-consensual advertisement notifications/calls for e-mails and cellphones via SMS or direct calls received by data subjects, which are in conflict with clauses of the Law on the Protection of Personal Data numbered 6698, and within the framework of carried out inspections by the Turkish Personal Data Protection Authority;

• Without receiving consent of data subjects, or without fulfilling the processing clauses defined under the Article 5th of the Law, calls and messages/e-mails with advertisement purposes conducted by data controllers or by third-party individuals on behalf of data controllers must immediately cease their data processing activities, in accordance with the 7th clause of 15th article of the Law.
• Under the 12th article of the Law, every kind of technical and administrative precautions are required to be taken by data controllers in order to prevent unlawful accessing and processing of personal data, and data controllers are conjointly responsible in the case of unauthorized data processing conducted by him/herself or a third-party individual.
• Data controllers who act against the abovementioned impositions will be prosecuted within the framework of the 18th article of the Law.
• The abovementioned methods regarding the acquisition of personal data will also be considered as a criminal act since data may be acquired unlawfully as described in the 136th article of the Turkish Penal Code numbered 5237 and will be reported to Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in accordance with the 158th article of Penal Procedure Law numbered 5271.

The decisions regarding public disclosure and publishing the resolution on the official website of the Turkish DPA and in the Official Gazette were taken by unanimous vote.