REGULATION ON THE OPERATING PRINCIPLES AND PROCEDURES OF PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION BOARD
Number and Date of the Basis Law: 6698 - 24.3.2016
Date and Number of the Publishing Official Gazette: November 16, 2017 - Issue Number: 30242
PART ONE
Purpose, Scope, Legal Basis and Definitions
Purpose and scope
ARTICLE 1- (1) This Regulation has been issued with a view to identify and set forth the operating principles and procedures, duties and the responsibilities of the Board of Personal Data Protection.
Legal Basis
ARTICLE 2- (1) This Regulation has been issued on the basis of the provisions of Articles 22 and 23 of the Law numbered 6698 and dated March 24, 2016.
Definitions
ARTICLE 3- (1) In this Regulation, following terms shall have the following meanings;
a) Chairman: Chairman of the Authority of Personal Data Protection,
b) Law: The Law on personal Data Protection No. 6698 dated March 24, 2016,
c) Board: The Personal Data Protection Board,
ç) Authority: The Authority of Personal Data Protection,
d) Member: Any Member of the Board of Personal Data Protection.
PART TWO
Board of Personal Data Protection
Board
ARTICLE 4- (1) The Board is the decision-making body of the Authority. The Board shall be comprised of nine members, including the Chairman and the Vice Chairman.
(2) Five members of the Board shall be appointed by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey while two members of the same shall be appointed by the President and two members of the same shall be appointed by the Council of Ministers.
(3) The Board shall fulfil and exercise its duties and powers, respectively, which are imposed thereon and granted thereto by the Law and the other relevant regulations, independently under its respective responsibility. Any body, authority, department, office or person may not issue orders or instructions or give recommendations or suggestions to the Board on the matters that fall into the province of powers of thereof.
Chairman
ARTICLE 5- (1) The Chairman, who is the top-level executive of the Authority, shall be responsible for the overall administration and representation of the Authority as well as the execution of the resolutions adopted by the Board.
(2) Each of the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman shall be elected individually by the Board. Any members shall not be nominated for such election. It shall be decided by the Board whether the election shall be held by way of a secret ballot or it shall be held by way of open ballot. The result of the election shall be documented in the form of a formal record, which shall be signed by the members of the Board, who shall have attended the relevant meeting.
(3) In the cases where the Chairman is absent due to leave, sickness, travelling to abroad on account of her/his duties; the Vice Chairman shall stand proxy and act for the Chairman.
Members
ARTICLE 6- (1) The term of office of the members of the Board shall be four years. Any member, whose term of office expires, shall be eligible to be re-appointed. Any person, who is appointed as a member to a seat, which becomes vacant prior to the expiration of the term of office of the member, being the previous holder of such seat, shall serve throughout the remaining period of the term of office of such previous member.
(2) Any member of the Board may not be dismissed from the office thereof prior to the expiration of the term of office thereof for any reason whatsoever. Any member of the Board may be dismissed from office under a resolution on the matter of the Board in the cases where;
a) It is subsequently established that such member does not, in fact, meet the requirements and is, therefore, not eligible to be appointed as a member,
b) A verdict of conviction instituted against such member for any offence committed thereby in relation to her/his duties is finalized,
c) It is established on the basis of a medical board report that such member no longer has the capacity to fulfil her/his duties,
ç) It is established that such member has been absent for fifteen consecutive days or for some thirty days in total within a year without permission or without a valid excuse, or
d) It is established that such member has failed to attend three Board meetings in total within a month or ten Board meetings in total within a year without permission or just excuse.
Duties and powers of the Board
ARTICLE 7- (1) The duties and powers of the Board are provided as follows:
a) Ensure that the personal data are processed in accordance with and with respect to the fundamental rights and freedoms.
b) Resolve the complaints of those, who allege that their rights related to the personal data have been violated.
c) Examine whether or not personal data have been processed in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations on the matters that fall into the province of powers thereof upon the filing of any complaint or on its own motion in the cases where it finds out any alleged violation and, where necessary, take temporary measures on the matter.
ç) Take regulatory actions in order to identify and set forth the obligations related to the data security.
d) Identify and set forth the sufficient precautions to be taken for the processing of personal data of private nature.
e) Ensure the keeping of the Registry of Data Controller.
f) Identify and set forth the principles regarding the deletion, disposal or anonymization of personal data.
g) Take regulatory actions as necessary and appropriate on such matters that are related to the province of the Board and the operations of the Authority.
h) Take regulatory actions in respect of the duties, powers and responsibilities of the data controller and the representative thereof.
ı) Declare the countries with and without sufficient protection in respect of the transfer of data to abroad.
i) Identify and set forth the industry-specific code of practice in relation to the protection, processing and security of personal data, and identify and set forth the principles and procedures applicable for accreditation, certification, training and guidance.
j) Implement national and international projects in relation to the protection of personal data, and have the same implemented.
k) Inform the relevant organizations and institutions in respect of the protection of personal data, and carry out activities to raise the awareness of the public on the matter.
l) Carry out endeavors in relation to the fee tariffs.
m) Carry out cooperation and coordination efforts with universities and other relevant national and international organizations and institutions.
n) Decide on the administrative sanctions contemplated by the Law.
q) Release opinions on draft legislation, which are drawn up by other authorities, agencies, organizations and institutions and which contain provisions regarding personal data.
o) Determine and decide on the strategic plan of the Authority, and identify and set forth the objective and the goals, the service quality standards and the performance criteria thereof.
ö) Discuss and decide on the proposed budget for the Authority, which is drawn up in line with the strategic plan and the objective and goals of the same.
p) Approve and publish the draft reports drawn up on the performance, financial standing, annual activities and issues of need of the Authority.
r) Discuss and decide on the proposals regarding the purchase, sales and leasing of real properties.
PART THREE
Operating Principles and Procedures of the Board
Meeting agendas
ARTICLE 8- (1) Meeting agendas of the Board shall be determined by the Chairman.
(2) The agenda, draft resolutions on the agenda items, documents required for the adoption of resolutions as well as the opinions and the recommendations of the Authority shall be delivered to the members by the Revision Department minimum 3 days in advance of the scheduled date of the meeting.
(3) In the event the discussion of all agenda items fails to be completed at a meeting on account of the insufficiency of the meeting duration, the items, which could not be discussed, shall be incorporated into the agenda of the next immediate meeting without the need for any further action.
Quorums for meeting and resolution
ARTICLE 9- (1) The Board meetings shall be held with the attendance of minimum six members, including the Chairman.
(2) The Board shall convene on such dates that are determined by the Chairman. The Chairman may, where necessary, summon the Board to convene for extraordinary meetings.
(3) Each member should, in principle, attend and be present at every meeting.
(4) Any member, who is unable to attend a meeting, shall notify the Chairman's Office in writing of the valid excuse thereof.
(5) The quorum for resolution of the Board shall be the simple majority of the total number of members. Any member of the Board may not cast an abstention vote.
(6) Meetings shall, in principle, be held at the principal office of the Authority. However; if it is deemed necessary, the Board may resolve for the meetings to be held at such venues other than the principal office of the Authority.
(7) Meetings shall, in principle, be held by way of the physical attendance and presence of the members; however, should it be deemed so necessary and be considered so appropriate by the Chairman, the meetings may also be held electronically or may be attended through electronic means.
Procedures of discussions and voting
ARTICLE 10- (1) Resolutions shall be adopted through discussions. Agenda items shall be discussed in the order of priority as set forth within the agenda.
(2) Through the course of a discussion of the agenda items; the Chairman shall offer the floor to the members of the Board in turn. Once the discussions on the relevant agenda item are completed, the matter shall be put to vote.
(3) Proposed resolutions shall be voted by way of raising hands in favor of the adoption or the rejection of the proposed resolution.
(4) The resolutions of the Board shall be documented in the form of minutes upon the completion of the meeting.
(5) Any member of the Board may not attend any meeting, during which any matter that concerns such member, any blood relative up to the third degree and any relative by marriage up to the second degree, or any adopted child thereof, or any spouse thereof, including a former spouse, is to be discussed, and may not cast vote on any such matter. The fact that any such member has not attended any such meeting and has not cast vote on any such matter shall be stated separately within the wording of the relevant resolution.
Confidentiality of discussions and persons eligible to attend
ARTICLE 11- (1) Unless decided otherwise, the discussions held during the Board meetings shall be confidential. Any other person than the Chairman and the members as well as the staff members, who are in charge of keeping the minutes of discussion, may not attend the Board meetings. However; the Chairman may, where so deemed necessary, invite parties, persons or representatives to attend the Board meetings. However, the resolutions of the Board shall not be adopted in the presence of external attendees.
Resolutions
ARTICLE 12- (1) The resolutions adopted on the agenda items discussed during the meetings shall be documented in the form of minutes.
(2) The resolution minutes shall, during the meeting, be undersigned by all members, who may have attended the meeting.
(3) Save for the periods prescribed by the Law; any resolution of the Board shall be issued in writing along with the reasoning of the same as well as the reasoning for the dissenting votes, if any, within not later than fifteen days as of the date of the relevant meeting.
(4) Any member of the Board, who has attended the relevant meeting but has failed to undersign the resolutions of the Board within the contemplated period of time without valid excuse, shall be deemed to have cast her/his vote in line with the statements thereof as set forth within the minutes of the relevant meeting.
(5) The full names of the members, who have attended the Board meeting, during which the relevant resolution has been adopted, shall be written on the last page of the resolution, on which last page the signatures of such members shall be affixed, while the other pages of the relevant resolution shall be signed or initialized only.
(6) The meeting and resolution numbers shall be started at one at the beginning of each year, and continue ascending sequentially until the ending of the relevant year.
Matters and elements to be contained within resolutions
ARTICLE 13- (1) Any resolution, which may be adopted as a result of an examination that is conducted upon the filing of a complaint or at the Board's own motion upon its becoming aware of an alleged violation, should contain the following matters and elements:
a) Full names of the members of the Board, who have adopted the relevant resolution.
b) Full names of the persons, who have conducted the investigation and examination.
c) Full names and titles/ trade names as well as the addresses and the capacities of the parties.
ç) Summary of allegations and statements of the parties.
d) Discussion and assessment of the allegations and statements.
e) Legal basis of the resolution.
f) Conclusion.
g) Reasoning for the dissenting votes, if any.
(2) Any other resolution should contain the following matters and elements:
a) Full names of the members of the Board, who have adopted the relevant resolution.
b) Subject matter and legal basis of the resolution.
c) Conclusion.
d) Reasoning for the dissenting votes, if any.
Retention of resolutions
ARTICLE 14- (1) The resolutions shall be filed by the Revision Department. Certified copies of the resolutions shall be forwarded to the relevant divisions.
(2) The certified copies of the resolutions, which are issued to be forwarded to the relevant divisions, shall not contain the reasoning for dissenting votes.
(3) The authenticity of the copies of the resolutions shall be certified by the Revision Department.
Announcement and publication of resolutions
ARTICLE 15- (1) The Board shall announce such resolutions, which it may so deem necessary, to the public.
(2) The resolutions of the Board shall be advised to the concerned parties following the completion of the issue thereof.
(3) Only the Chairman may make statements to the media organs in respect of the matters discussed and the resolutions adopted during meetings.
Commission endeavors
ARTICLE 16- (1) Expertise commissions or working groups to be comprised of the Board members may be constituted under the resolutions of the Board in order to conduct preliminary examination on the matters, which are to be discussed and resolved by the Board, and to submit the Board a rather more extensive and profound report on the matter. The staff members of the Authority may be assigned to work as a part of such commissions or working groups under the relevant resolutions of the Board.
Secrecy and Confidentiality
ARTICLE 17- (1) The members of the Board and any other person, who attend the Board meetings or any preparatory endeavor should it so be deemed necessary by the Chairman, may not disclose any secret, which they may learn about the concerned parties and third parties through the course of such meetings or any such endeavor, to any other party than the legally competent authorities, departments and offices, and may not make use of the same for their own benefit. The foregoing obligation shall survive and remain in full force and effect after the expiration or termination of the terms of office of the mentioned parties.
PART FOUR
Miscellaneous and Final Provisions
Regulatory powers
ARTICLE 18- (1) The power to resolve any matter that is not regulated or clarified by this Regulation, in compliance with the relevant provisions of the applicable legislation, to enforce such resolutions, to regulate such matters and to provide guidance to others on such matters is hereby granted to and shall be enjoyed by the Authority.
Effectiveness
ARTICLE 19- (1) This Regulation shall enter into force on the date it is published.
Enforcement
ARTICLE 20- (1) The provisions of this Regulation shall be enforced by the Chairman.
