Material Applicability

The Turkish Law on The Protection Of Personal Data (DPL) defines its material scope through two key factors:

• Automated Means Criterion
• Filing System Criterion

Relevant Legal Provisions

DPL Article 2:

"The provisions of this Law shall apply to natural persons whose personal data are processed and to natural or legal persons processing such data wholly or partially by automated means or by non-automated means which provided that form part of a data filing system."

Original (Turkish):

"Bu Kanun hükümleri kişisel verileri işlenen gerçek kişiler ile bu verileri tamamen veya kısmen otomatik yollarla veya bir veri kayıt sisteminin parçası olmak kaydıyla otomatik olmayan yollarla işleyen gerçek ve tüzel kişiler hakkında uygulanır."

Automated Means Criterion

The DPL applies to processing of personal data that is carried out "wholly or partially by automated means". This encompasses:

• Full automation of data processing activities
• Partial automation combined with manual processing
• Any degree of automated processing, regardless of the extent

Filing System Criterion

The law extends to non-automated processing when data forms part of a filing system. This criterion:

• Applies to structured manual processing of personal data
• Requires the data to be organized in a way allowing easy retrieval
• Covers physical filing systems that are systematically arranged

Territorial Applicability

The law does not specify any territorial applicability factors.