Protection of personal data in the light of European Union Directive 95/46

In our time, processing of personal data in huge amounts and rapidly by electronic systems, made it possible to offer many services to millions of people at the same time, in every sphere of life like commerce, banking, health, education, public order and security. However, widespread processing of personal data by public and private sector and the improvement of transfer facilities, raised concerns about the vialotion of fundemental rights more than ever. In response to this progress, first Council of Europe, than European Union tried to ensure a common data protection level by means of different legal instruments.In this thesis, after touching on the notion of protection of personal data and the relation of this notion with privacy and historical background, relevant European Union Directives are examined. Finally the national legislation on data protection are addressed.There is a need to establish a data protection system in modern standarts to protect and improve the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens. In this respect, inserting the right to data protection in to Constitution as a specific fundemental right and enacting the draft data protection law would be beneficial in order to ensure a constitutional guarantee for protection of personal data.