Protection of worker personal data at social media level

Protection of personal data has become one of the most important issues in the society of technology, in which access to information becomes easier every day. Protection of personal data is essentially provided by Law No. 6698 on Protection of Personal Data in our law. The characteristic feature that distinguishes the employment relationship from other contracts is the dependency factor. Both the dependency factor in the employment relationship and the fact that the employment relationship is one of the most data-processed areas make the need to protect the personal data of the worker important. With the increasing use of social media in recent years, it has become inevitable to reflect this use on the employment relationship. Given this backdrop, the subject of this study is to investigate the protection of personal data of employees at the level of their social media activity. In the first part of our study, the concept of personal data, its legal nature and regulations related to the field are included. In the second part, basic concepts, principles and rights and obligations regarding the processing of personal data of the worker and the concept of social media are included. In the third section, situations in which social media data are processed in the employment context are examined. In the last section, sanctions related to illegal processing of personal data of the worker are included. Keywords: Personal data, social media, employment context, personal data of worker, data protection law