Within the scope of the notices submitted to the Personal Data Protection Authority, it has been detected that some individuals and organizations operating in sectors such as lawyers/law offices, finance, real estate consultancy, insurance, etc. have been using software/ programs/ applications to query personal data of citizens such as identity and contact information, based on the data obtained in various ways. As a result of the evaluation, considering that this situation is in breach of the provisions of Article 12 of the Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698, which regulates the obligations of data controllers regarding data security, in order to prevent possible data security breaches, the Board unanimously decides that;

• The matter will be notified to the relevant Chief Public Prosecutor's Offices, pursuant to Article 158 of the Criminal Procedure Code No. 5271 for the establishment of necessary legal proceedings within the scope of the Turkish Penal Code against those who are found to be using software/programs/applications of this nature,
• The public will be informed about the administrative action to be taken, within the scope of Article 18 of the Law No. 6698, against the data controllers,
• This Resolution taken pursuant to Article 15(6) of the Law No. 6698 will be published in the Official Gazette and on the website of the Authority.