Addressing the protection of personal data in the context of personal rights

As a result of living in the digital world, the place where the processing of personal data takes place is mostly digital media and there has been a serious increase in data storage, unauthorized access to data, and illegal use of data. Internet-connected digital media have exposed people to various social, criminal and legal consequences. In these environments, where the majority of interaction takes place, individuals whose lives have become transparent and who do not have the right to be left alone in the midst of increasing data flow at ever greater speeds, are now not only watched by the state but also by private law persons. In this context, the individual protected by the basic legal norms had to be specially protected in some legal matters due to the need emerging from the social change brought about by technology. One of them is the protection of personal data. Personal data protection law is multifaceted and its sphere of influence is also very wide. Just as the German Federal Court's "The Population Census" decision affects the whole world, the European Union's regulations on the protection of personal data also have worldwide effects and consequences. Changes are made in Turkish law within the framework of all these developments. There are various opinions in the doctrine regarding the legal nature of the right to protection of personal data. According to the personality right view, personal data should be protected in the context of personality rights. The protection provided by the personality right is an important way of protection for unfair infringements of personal data. As a result of the digital world and technological developments, the existing general legal norms had to be applied again, but this time in the context of the protection of personal data, and the concept of personality, personality values, personality right, ways of protecting the personality gained importance again.