27 June 2022
Until recently, data processing activities carried out through cookies were handled in accordance with the decisions of the Personal Data Protection Board (“Board”) on the cookies. On June 20, 2022, the Guide on Cookie Practices (“Guide”) has been published on the website of the Board for the processing of personal data within the scope of the Law on the Protection of Personal Data numbered 6698 and the data processing activities relating to cookies will be carried out based on the Guide as of such date.
Under the Guide, cookies and cookie types are regulated in detail. For website operators processing personal data through cookies, the conditions for the processing of personal data are specified in detail. The Guide has given examples of different practices on how to provide the data subjects with a clear, simple, and understandable information text regarding the cookies, the cases when it is necessary to obtain an explicit consent through cookies and obtaining an explicit consent before the cookies are placed. With respect to obtaining an explicit consent, it has been indicated that a consent that is not based on any active action of the user cannot be considered as an explicit consent, and in cases where consent to cookies is imposed on the data subject as a prerequisite for the service, the cookie wall may cause the invalidity of the explicit consent by flawing the free will of the data subject.
Lastly, in the section of the Guide titled "Data Transfer Abroad", it is stated that "Article 9 of the Law (titled “Transfer of personal data abroad”) should be taken into account" in cases where the websites operating in Turkey use cookies through the companies located abroad and data transfer is being done abroad through these cookies; and under the title of "Appropriate Information", the matters to be considered in the information texts to be given to children are explained.
You may access the Guide (Turkish original version) from this link: https://lnkd.in/dWCg-JZC
Respectfully submitted.
Kind regards,
Guner Law Office