KVKK Data Protection Lawyer in Yalova: Compliance, Breaches and Fines

Industrial plants, tourism businesses, healthcare providers and e-commerce platforms in Yalova are subject to every obligation under Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data (KVKK) whenever they process personal data. İLME HUKUK BÜROSU draws on its founder's engineering background to manage KVKK compliance for businesses as a whole, covering both the legal and the technical side.

Our KVKK Services

The full range, from compliance projects to data breach crisis management.

KVKK Compliance Advisory

Comprehensive data protection compliance projects for companies

• Current-state analysis
• Policy drafting
• VERBİS registration

Privacy Notices and Explicit Consent

Drafting and reviewing texts that comply with KVKK Art. 10 and 11

• Privacy notice (aydınlatma metni)
• Explicit consent declaration
• Cookie policy

Data Breach Management

72-hour notification, crisis communication and the legal process

• Notification to the Board
• Informing data subjects
• Root cause analysis

Challenging Administrative Fines

Administrative court proceedings against Personal Data Protection Board decisions

• Objection to Board decisions
• Administrative Court action
• Stay of execution

Data Subject Requests

Handling requests and responses under KVKK Art. 13

• 30-day response period
• Complaints to the Board
• Right to compensation

International Data Transfers

Explicit consent, binding corporate rules (BCR), undertakings and standard contracts

• BCR approval
• Standard contracts
• Adequacy assessment

Core Concepts of the KVKK

Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data (KVKK) entered into force on 7 April 2016 and covers every natural and legal person that processes personal data. The law is built on principles that largely parallel the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Key Definitions

• Personal data: Any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (name, Turkish ID number, telephone number, IP address, cookies and so on)
• Special categories of personal data: Sensitive categories such as race, health, religion, sect, membership and biometric data
• Data controller: The natural or legal person who determines the purposes and means of processing personal data
• Data processor: A person who processes data on behalf of the data controller (for example, a cloud provider)
• Data subject: The natural person whose personal data is processed
• Processing: Any operation performed on data, including collecting, recording, classifying, using, disclosing, transferring and deleting

The KVKK Compliance Project

A KVKK compliance project maps all of a company's data processing activities and brings them into line with the law. Although sectors and company sizes differ, a typical compliance project runs through the following stages.

Stages of a Compliance Project

1. Current-state analysis: Data flow map, processing purposes, legal bases
2. Risk assessment: Identifying open and hidden risks, impact analysis
3. Policy drafting: Data retention and destruction policy, explicit consent procedure
4. Privacy notices: Separate texts for customers, employees, visitors and the website
5. Data security measures: Technical (encryption, authorization) and administrative (training, confidentiality agreements)
6. VERBİS registration: For data controllers that meet the threshold
7. Employee training: Role-based training for authorized staff
8. Audit and monitoring: Periodic internal audits and compliance monitoring

Completing a compliance project lowers the risk of administrative fines. It also means the company is prepared for the critical 72-hour response window when a data breach occurs.

Privacy Notices and Explicit Consent

The two most frequently confused concepts in the KVKK are the privacy notice and explicit consent. The privacy notice (Art. 10) is mandatory for every processing activity; explicit consent (Art. 5/1) is required only where no other legal basis applies.

What a Privacy Notice Must Contain

• The identity of the data controller (full legal name, address, contact details)
• The purpose of processing the personal data
• To whom the data will be transferred (recipient categories) and for what purpose
• The method of collecting the data and its legal basis
• The data subject's rights under Art. 11

Conditions for Valid Explicit Consent

Explicit consent must (1) relate to a specific matter, (2) be based on prior information, (3) be given freely and (4) be expressed unambiguously. A pre-ticked box (opt-out) does not count as explicit consent; active confirmation (opt-in) is required. In relationships with a power imbalance, such as employer and employee, explicit consent is not considered valid.

Data Breaches and the 72-Hour Rule

A personal data breach covers unauthorized access to a database, and the loss, theft or mistaken disclosure of data. Phishing attacks, ransomware, social engineering and employee error are the most common sources of breaches.

Breach Response Steps

1. Detection and containment: Identifying the affected data categories and the number of people concerned
2. Root cause analysis: Locating the source of the breach through technical forensic examination
3. Corrective action: Patching systems, resetting passwords, restricting access
4. Notification to the Board: Within 72 hours via verbis.kvkk.gov.tr
5. Notification to data subjects: Directly or through the press where there is a high risk
6. Documentation: Keeping a written record of the entire process (for a Board inspection)

If notification is late or is never made, a separate administrative fine arises in addition to the breach itself. In its decisions, the Personal Data Protection Board has imposed substantial additional fines on data controllers that failed to meet the notification obligation, on top of the fine for the breach.

Board Decisions and Challenging Fines

The Personal Data Protection Board publishes its decisions imposing administrative sanctions annually. The average fine is rising, and decisions in the millions of Turkish lira are now common, particularly for inadequate data security and for failure to notify a breach.

The Administrative Court Route

An action for annulment may be brought before the Administrative Court within 60 days of service of the Board decision. It is critical to request a stay of execution together with the action; if granted, the fine does not have to be paid. The main arguments examined in an annulment action are:

• Whether the Board decision rests on concrete evidence
• Errors in interpreting the legal basis (Art. 5, Art. 6)
• Proportionality of the amount of the fine
• Procedural violations during the investigation
• Double punishment for the same act

In the case law, a significant share of Board decisions have ended in annulment or a reduction of the amount. For that reason, the professional approach is not to pay a Board fine automatically, but to consider a legal challenge first.

Data Subject Rights and Compensation

KVKK Art. 11 grants data subjects wide-ranging rights: to learn whether their personal data is being processed, to learn the purpose of processing, to receive information about domestic and international transfers, to request correction, to request deletion or destruction, to object to automated decisions, and to claim compensation for damage caused by unlawful processing.

Requests Under Art. 13 and the Response Period

Under KVKK Art. 13, a data subject may apply to the data controller in writing or electronically. The data controller must respond within 30 days at the latest. Failure to respond within that period, or an inadequate response, opens the way to a complaint to the Board and creates a risk of an administrative fine.

Compensation Actions

Under KVKK Art. 14, a person whose personal data has been processed unlawfully may claim pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages. This action is a separate judicial route from the administrative fine and is heard before the Civil Court of First Instance (Asliye Hukuk Mahkemesi). Where many people are affected, a collective action may be brought.

Why Legal Support Matters in KVKK Matters

The KVKK sits at the intersection of law and technology and is constantly evolving. Reading the text of the law is not enough; the field is shaped dynamically by Board decisions, decisions aligning practice with the GDPR, and court case law. A technical understanding rooted in engineering is a significant advantage here.

With a combined legal and technical perspective and more than 20 years of experience, İLME HUKUK BÜROSU represents clients across the full range of KVKK matters, from compliance projects to data breach crisis management, and from challenges to Board decisions to compensation actions. We offer scalable compliance solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises, manufacturing plants, hotels and e-commerce businesses in Yalova.

Frequently Asked Questions

What obligations does my business have under the KVKK?

Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data covers every natural and legal person that processes personal data (the data controller). The core obligations are: (1) registration with VERBİS (for data controllers meeting the set criteria), (2) the duty to inform (KVKK Art. 10), (3) obtaining explicit consent (for special categories of data and in specific situations), (4) data security measures (Art. 12), (5) notifying the Board within 72 hours of a data breach, (6) responding to data subject requests within 30 days, and (7) a retention and destruction policy. How these obligations apply varies with the sector and the volume of data.

Is VERBİS registration mandatory, and which companies must register?

The obligation to register with the Data Controllers' Registry Information System (VERBİS) depends on threshold criteria set by the Personal Data Protection Board. As of 2024, domestic legal persons with an annual net turnover or a balance sheet total above TRY 100 million, and companies with 50 or more employees per year, fall within the registration obligation. The threshold has also been lowered in certain specific fields such as healthcare, finance and education. Breach of the registration obligation is subject to serious administrative fines; in current Board decisions these fines can reach millions of Turkish lira.

What should I do if a data breach occurs?

Under KVKK Art. 12/5, the data controller must notify the Personal Data Protection Board as soon as possible (as a rule, within 72 hours) after learning that a data breach has occurred. For high-risk breaches, the affected data subjects must also be notified directly. The steps, in order, are: (1) detect and document the breach, (2) root cause analysis and corrective action, (3) notify the Board (verbis.kvkk.gov.tr), (4) notify the affected individuals, and (5) restore system security. Failure to notify on time is a ground for an administrative fine separate from the breach itself.

I have received an administrative fine from the Personal Data Protection Board. What can I do?

You can bring an action for annulment before the administrative court within 60 days of service of the Board decision. The competent court is the Administrative Court for the place where the addressee of the decision resides or has its place of business. A stay of execution is usually requested in the annulment action; if the court grants it, the fine that is the subject of the decision does not have to be paid. In reviewing the lawfulness of the Board decision, the court examines arguments such as procedural defects, insufficient concrete evidence and a disproportionate fine. A significant share of Board decisions have ended in annulment or a reduction of the amount before the courts.

What is the difference between a privacy notice and explicit consent?

A privacy notice (KVKK Art. 10) is the information given to the data subject when personal data is processed; it is mandatory for every processing activity and is not a consent requirement. Explicit consent (KVKK Art. 5/1) is a legal basis given specifically, unambiguously and of free will; it is needed only where none of the other processing conditions in Art. 5/2 and Art. 6 applies. Explicit consent is not required for processing that is necessary to perform a contract, processing required by a legal obligation, or processing based on legitimate interest, but the privacy notice remains mandatory. Misapplying this distinction is the most common cause of KVKK violations.

How does the KVKK differ from the GDPR (European Union)?

The KVKK and the GDPR share the same basic principles (information, explicit consent, data security, breach notification). There are, however, important differences: (1) the GDPR allows international transfers freely where it finds adequate protection, whereas the KVKK requires Board approval or an undertaking; (2) under the GDPR the maximum administrative fine is EUR 20 million or 4% of turnover, whereas the KVKK applies fines within fixed ranges; (3) the GDPR has no "single victim" concept, whereas data subject requests are central under the KVKK; and (4) the Data Protection Officer (DPO) requirement is broader under the GDPR. Turkish companies that transfer data abroad must comply with both regimes.

Can I keep employee personnel files by obtaining explicit consent from my employees?

No. Employee explicit consent is not an appropriate legal basis for processing that arises from employment law. According to the settled decisions of the Personal Data Protection Board, explicit consent in the employer-employee relationship is not considered freely given because of the power imbalance. Data such as personnel files, payroll and performance reviews are processed under Art. 5/2 on the basis of "establishing or performing a contract" or a "legal obligation" (Labor Law No. 4857, social security legislation). For special categories of data such as medical reports and biometric data, the processing conditions in Art. 6 must also be met.

How do I bring CCTV (security camera) recordings into compliance with the KVKK?

Security camera recordings are personal data and are subject to the KVKK. The compliance conditions are: (1) a visible and clear notice sign (camera and data controller information), (2) a defined retention period (usually 30 to 90 days), (3) restricted access rights to the recordings, (4) no cameras in sensitive areas (toilets, changing rooms), and (5) readiness to notify within 72 hours in the event of a breach. The Board has fined businesses that kept recordings for unjustifiably long periods or operated cameras without a notice. These rules are especially important for shopping centers, factories and workplaces open to the public in Yalova.

Can I transfer my customers' data to a business partner?

Data transfers are subject to specific rules under KVKK Art. 8 (domestic) and Art. 9 (international). A domestic transfer requires either (1) the data subject's explicit consent, or (2) one of the conditions set out in Art. 5/2 and Art. 6. Transfers may be made on the basis of contractual necessity, a legal obligation or legitimate interest, but the recipient must also comply with the KVKK. The transfer must be stated in the privacy notice, and the categories of data transferred and the categories of recipients must be shown transparently.

Which court hears KVKK cases in Yalova?

Annulment actions against Personal Data Protection Board decisions are heard in the administrative courts, before the Administrative Court for the place where the addressee of the decision resides or has its place of business. In Yalova these cases fall within the jurisdiction of the Yalova Administrative Court (within the judicial district of the Bursa Regional Administrative Court). Compensation actions under KVKK Art. 14 may be heard before the Civil Court of First Instance for the place of residence of the data subject or of the data controller. Claims for non-pecuniary damages arising from a data breach are in any event subject to the general rules.

Can I claim non-pecuniary damages for data processing that violates the KVKK?

Yes. Under KVKK Art. 14, a person whose personal data has been processed unlawfully has the right to claim compensation for the damage suffered. Both pecuniary damages (concrete loss, for example loss of work following damage to reputation) and non-pecuniary damages may be claimed. The amount of non-pecuniary damages is determined by the judge, taking into account the nature of the violation, the number of people affected, the degree of fault of the data controller and how long it continued. The compensation action is a judicial route separate from the administrative fine, and the two may be pursued together.

How much does a KVKK lawyer cost in Yalova?

Attorney's fees in KVKK matters cannot fall below the lower limit of the Minimum Attorney Fee Tariff (AAÜT) published by the Union of Turkish Bar Associations. Fees depend on the subject of the advice (compliance project, breach response, challenge to a Board decision), the size of the company, the workload of the file and the complexity of the data processing activities. A monthly retainer (ongoing legal counsel) model may suit medium-sized and larger companies that process data; in that case the scope and duration are set out clearly in the engagement agreement. Please contact our office for specific fee information.

Comprehensive Legal Support for KVKK Compliance

Contact our team for a KVKK compliance project, data breach response or a challenge to a Board decision for your business in Yalova.