Personal data protection and artificial intelligence: Policy recommendations for Turkiye

This thesis addresses the legal, ethical and administrative issues that arise at the intersection of personal data protection and artificial intelligence technologies employing a multidimensional approach. Considering that today, when digitalization is accelerating, artificial intelligence systems are fed with big data and that personal data is also included in this data, a new balance needs to be established between privacy protection and technological development. While the interaction of artificial intelligence systems with big data poses significant risks to individuals' privacy rights, it also reveals the need for these technologies to be developed in an ethical and human-centered manner. Within the scope of the thesis, documents from international organizations such as the European Union, the Council of Europe, OECD, UNESCO, and the UN and regulations from countries such as Germany, France, the United States of America, China, Japan, the United Kingdom and Russia have been comparatively analyzed. In the case of Turkey, the legal and institutional structure has been examined in detail, the current situation has been evaluated and policy recommendations have been developed. In the research, an ethical and risk-based governance model has been proposed in which the fields of artificial intelligence and personal data protection can operate in harmony using document and literature analysis methods. This study makes an original contribution to the literature by presenting concrete, applicable and holistic principles for the integration of personal data protection and artificial intelligence policies in Turkey.