Turkish criminal law on protection of personal data in crimes

Nowadays, as a result of developments in information and communication technologies, processes such as collection and distribution of personal data have become much simpler and faster. This situation revealed the necessity of protection of personal data. There have been international discussions and studies on the protection of personal data for many years. The right to protection of personal data is not included in many legal arrangements as a separate right and is protected under the right to privacy of personal life. However, with the advances in technology, importance of the right to the protection of personal data has increased and this right has been considered as one of the fundamental rights and freedoms. As it is included in the fundamental rights and freedoms, it has become even more important to take measures to protect this right. Personal data, which is protected by various legal texts in the international field, is also protected by various legal regulations in our country. 6698 numbered Law on the Protection of Personal Data, which was included in our legislation in 2016, is the main source on the subject of protection of personal data. This law refers to 5237 numbered Turkish Criminal Code in respect of crimes related to personal data. Even though the protection of personal data has been examined in this study, since the main purpose of our study is to examine the protection of personal data in Turkish Criminal Code, detailed investigations and explanations on the protection of personal data are provided.