WHAT IS PERSONAL DATA?
Personal data can be defined as any information that is identified or identifiable and related to any person. Personal information, on the other hand; is information such as name, surname, place and date of birth, image and sound recordings, and fingerprints that belongs to real people and can be used to directly or indirectly to identify those people. To be able to refer to a data as personal data, it must contain four elements of personal data. These components are as follows:
Personal data is present if the data is:
- Identified or has identifiability
- Involving of a real person
- Related to the person
- Consisting of any kind of information.
Personal Data Protection Law protects personal data. The law’s purpose is to protect individual’s fundamental rights and freedoms in the use of personal data, to ensure the confidentiality of private life, and to define the responsibilities of those who process personal data.
WHAT IS THE CRIME OF PRIVACY OF PRIVATE LIFE’S VIOLATION AND UNLAWFUL DELIVERY OF PERSONAL DATA?
Unauthorized use and sharing of personal data and photographs of real people without their consent is a crime under criminal law.
Article 134 of Turkish Penal Code contains The Crime of Privacy of Private Life’s Violation and penalties regarding to it:
Any person who violates the privacy of another person’s personal life shall be sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment for a term of one month to three years. Where the violation of privacy occurs as a result of recording images or sound, the penalty to be imposed shall be increased by one fold.
Any person who unlawfully discloses the images or sounds of another person’s private life shall be sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment fro a term of two to five years. Where the offence is committed through the press or broadcasting, the penalty shall be the same.’’
Article 136 of the Criminal Code also regulates the crime of sharing and seizing this data that violates a person’s private life, as well as the crime and sanction of illegally giving or seizing Personal Data:
‘’Any person who illegally obtains, disseminates or gives to another person someone’s personal data shall be sentenced to a penalty of imprisonment for a term of two to four years.’’
The aforementioned crime is an alternative act crime, which means that any of the following acts would be sufficient for this crime to occur:
1-Obtaining of personal data
2-Giving the data to another person
3-Disseminating the data
WHAT IS THE CRIME OF SHARING REAL PEOPLE’S PHOTOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA WITHOUT PERMISSION?
Photographing real people in a way that violates their privacy and using, sharing, and processing their photos without their permission is a crime under criminal law. The photographs must have been seized and published without the consent of the real person in order for the crime of unlawful seizure of personal data to occur.
Even if the real person’s photo or video has previously been shared or used on social media without their consent, the dissemination or sharing of these photos and videos by someone else without the real person’s consent will not constitute a reason for compliance with the law. This situation is yet another violation of private life privacy and a crime of illegally giving and seizing personal data.
WHAT SHOULD BE DONE IF PHOTOS ARE SHARED ON SOCIAL MEDIA WITHOUT THE PERSON’S PERMISSION?
A real person’s privacy is violated when a photo of him/her is shared or used on social media without their permission. A real person may request the removal of personal data such as photographs, images, and sound recordings that were used and shared without their consent via social media, as well as material and moral compensation and reconciliation.
Taking Down Photos Shared Without Permission,
The “Law on the Regulation of Broadcasts Made on the Internet and Fighting Against Crimes Committed Through These Broadcasts” has gone into effect to ensure that the shares made on the Internet are safe and auditable. Except for the commission of a crime, this law requires certain conditions to be met in order to remove content published on the internet and prevent access to the content. Namely;
- The broadcast must be in violation of personality rights.
- Published content must infringe on the privacy of personal life
Under these conditions, the natural person whose rights have been violated has the right to demand the removal and blocking of photographs, images, and sound recordings posted on the internet without their consent.
Moral and Material Compensation,
If the personal data of real people, such as photographs, images, and audio recordings shared on social media without their consent, harms their personality, honor, commercial reputation, or other moral values, the person can make a request to be compensated for the non-pecuniary damage suffered as a result of this situation, in addition to the violation of their rights. Simultaneously, a natural person may seek restitution for any material damage they have suffered as a result of personal data, such as photographs, images, and audio recordings, being shared on social media without their consent.
Conciliation of the Crime of Privacy Of Private Life’s Violation via Internet
Violating the privacy of private life on the Internet or social media is a crime that can be solved through conciliation. Conciliation is a fast and practical way therefore the parties can prefer to reach to an end through conciliation instead of criminal litigation process.
WHAT IS REMOVING AND BARRING OF ACCESS PROCESS FOR SHARING OF PHOTOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA WITHOUT PERMISSION?
In the circumstance of sharing of their photos on social media without permission people can report crime of violation of their personal rights and privacy of private life by filing a report at police stations or republic prosecutors. Concurrently, if the user is photographed without their consent or other private photos belonging to them are shared without their consent, they may request barrıng of access and that the content of the broadcast be removed; bringing forward that these shares hold violation of their personal rights and private life.
In practice, there is a law known as the “Law on the Regulation of Broadcasts Made on the Internet and Fighting Against Crimes Committed Through These Broadcasts” which is numbered 5651.
Article 9 of the law numbered 5651 contains procedures for “Removing Content and Barring of Access”. Goes as; Real and legal persons, institutions, and organizations claiming that their personal rights have been violated as a result of the content of an Internet broadcast may apply to the content provider, or, if they are unable to reach it, to the hosting provider, requesting that the content be removed from the broadcast with a warning method, or directly to the criminal peace judge to have the content removed and/or access blocked. The requests of people who claim that their personal rights have been violated as a result of the content of the Internet broadcast are responded to within twenty-four hours at the most by the content and/or hosting provider. … The judge makes a decision on an application made within the scope of this article within twenty-four hours at the most; without holding a hearing.
Responsible individuals or institutions who fail to comply with a criminal peace judge’s decision to remove photos shared on social media without permission in a timely manner may face a judicial fine of 500 days to 3,000 days.