Giving explicit consent to the processing of personal data and the capacity to declare of explicit consent

Developments in information technologies have affected human life both positively and negatively; demands for the implementation of applications that may interfere with the privacy of individuals brought along a search for solutions to protect personal data and privacy. With the acceptance that the individual has the right to determine the future of his or her data and that the protection of personal data is a right area, many regulations have been made in both national and international arena. In this context, our country has taken its place among the countries that accept that the individual can determine the future of his or her own data with the regulations it has envisaged at the constitutional and legal level. Explicit consent is the most important tool by which a person can exercise control over his or her own data. Although the elements of explicit consent are included in the Law No. 6698, there is no regulation regarding the validity conditions of explicit consent and who is competent to give explicit consent in this sense. In this respect, it is seen that it is a matter of debate whether the express consent of those who do not have full competence in accordance with the provisions of the Turkish Civil Code numbered 4721 is valid. In this study, the issue of the capacity to give explicit consent in the processing of personal data has been examined; the subject has been handled within the framework of the practice of the European Data Protection Board with the doctrine.