Crime of transfer, dissemination or seizure of personal data

On the verge of increasing development in information technologies, the Turkish Data Protection Code 6698 came into force in 2016, and the need for reinterpretation of data protection law has emerged upon this implementation. One of the areas where there is a dire need for academic research is the crime of unlawful seizure of personal data ("TPC Article 136") for the first time regulated in the Turkish Penal Code 5237 entered into force in 2005. Initially, the interplay between specific concepts of data protection law and TPC Article 136 is analyzed in our thesis. Following such analyze, the question of whether criminal law must be applied for the protection of personal data was evaluated. Lastly, TPC Article 136 from the perspective of de lege lata and de lege ferenda in terms of form, content, the scope is criticized and alternative approaches in this context are proposed.