The fluctuating value of the Turkish Lira and very high inflation rates in recent times has brought about the need to constantly update the financial criteria in a number of legal regulations.
The Personal Data Protection Board (“Board”) which is a public entity and has administrative and financial autonomy to carry out duties conferred on it under the personal data protection law, is entitled to make exceptions to the obligation to register with the Data Controllers’ Registry ("Registry”). In line with this authority and through their decision dated 19.07.2018, the Board had introduced an exemption to the obligation to register with the Registry for individuals and companies who meet certain criteria as detailed in the table below under the ‘Old Version’ heading.
Given the recent economic developments in Turkey, the Board published a new decision on 25.07.2023 revising the balance sheet figure in the exemption from TRY 25 million to TRY 100 million. The exemption now reads as follows:
| Old Version | New Version |
| Data controller individuals and companies; | Data controller individuals and companies; |
| (i) who have fewer than 50 annual employees, | (i) who have fewer than 50 annual employees, |
| (ii) whose annual financial balance sheet is less than TRY 25 million, | (ii) whose annual financial balance sheet is less than TRY 100 million, |
| (iii) whose main field of activity is not processing sensitive personal data | (iii) whose main field of activity is not processing sensitive personal data |
| will be exempted from the registration obligation. | will be exempted from the registration obligation. |
Already registered data controllers, who now fall within the exemption (i.e. data controllers whose annual financial balance sheet is less than TRY 100 million as of 25.07.2023) may apply to the Board for deletion from the Registry. On the other hand, data controllers whose annual financial balance sheet was more than TRY 25 million prior to 25.07.2023 but less than TRY 100 million as from 25.07.2023 and who failed to register with the Registry, will not be subject to any fine by the Board.
Should you have any questions regarding the recent Board decision, please do not hesitate to contact our firm.
