Privacy & Compliance Articles
Expert insights, practical guidance, and actionable tips from privacy professionals.
Featured Articles
Is a Cookie Policy Mandatory? A KVKK and ePrivacy Comparative Guide
A cookie policy and cookie consent are not the same thing. This guide compares KVKK with the European ePrivacy approach and explains, step by step, which documents and mechanisms your website actually needs.
KVKK-Compliant Cookie Consent: 10 Steps to Get Ready for 2026
When cookies require explicit consent, how to design a compliant cookie banner, and how to keep consent records — a practical 10-step guide to make your website KVKK-ready.
What is KVKK?
KVKK, the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698, is the fundamental legislation that ensures personal data is processed lawfully, protected securely, and guarantees individuals' rights over their own data.
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The EU AI Act, GDPR and KVKK Triangle: A Guide for Turkish Companies Serving Global Clients
Turkish companies serving global clients operate at the intersection of the EU AI Act, GDPR, and KVKK. We explain step by step how to harmonise these three regulations within a single governance framework.
Automated Decision-Making and Profiling: KVKK Scope and Data Subject Rights
From credit scoring to hiring filters, many decisions are now made by algorithms. We explain the right to object to automated decisions under KVKK Art. 11, the risks of profiling, and the measures organisations should take.
AI and KVKK: A Roadmap to Align AI Systems With Data Law
We cover the personal-data risks of AI systems (training data, automated decisions, transparency) and a practical roadmap to align them with KVKK.
WCAG 2.2 Checklist: Make Your Website Compliant
WCAG 2.2 is the global standard for web accessibility. With the four core principles (POUR), the A/AA/AAA levels, and a practical success-criteria checklist, we walk you through making your site accessible for everyone.
What Is an Accessibility Scan and Why Does Your Website Need One?
An accessibility scan is the fastest first step for automatically detecting WCAG violations on your website. This article explains what a scan finds, its limits and the scan-report-fix-monitor cycle.
Web Accessibility (WCAG) and KVKK: A Double Obligation for Turkish Businesses
Web accessibility and personal data compliance are often handled under the same roof. This article explains the WCAG standard, the legal and inclusion dimensions of accessibility, and why it is managed together with cookie compliance.
KVKK Compliance Guide for Human Resources (HR)
HR departments process personal data more intensively than almost any other unit, from application to offboarding. This guide covers legal bases, disclosure, personnel files, workplace monitoring and retention in a practical framework.
KVKK and Special Category Data in the Health Sector
A sector guide covering why health data counts as special category, the difference between explicit consent and the health-service exception, and reinforced security obligations.
KVKK Compliance Guide for E-Commerce
A principle-based guide that helps an online store build KVKK compliance step by step, from customer data and cookies to cross-border transfers and retention periods.
Vendor (Processor) Risk Management: A VRM Guide for the KVKK
A practical VRM guide covering due diligence, risk assessment, contract management, and ongoing monitoring to secure KVKK compliance when selecting and managing your data-processor vendors.
Risk Assessment Under KVKK: A 5-Step Implementation Guide
The technical and administrative measures KVKK requires rest on a measurable risk assessment. This guide offers a principle-based, five-step method from inventory to risk score and controls.
What Is Continuous Compliance and Why Does It Matter for KVKK?
Continuous compliance turns compliance from a project checked once a year into a state that is continuously monitored and evidenced. This article explains the concept, how it differs from point-in-time audits, and why it is critical for KVKK.
KVKK and ISO 27001: Dual Compliance With One Program
The technical and administrative measures KVKK requires and the Annex A controls of ISO 27001 overlap substantially. With one risk assessment, one control set and one evidence repository, you can manage both compliances at once.
What Is ISO 27001? Process, Cost and Its Relationship with KVKK
ISO 27001 is the international standard for information security management systems. This article explains the logic of the standard, the certification process, the factors that drive cost, and its relationship with KVKK's technical and administrative measure obligations.
A Quick Look at CCPA/CPRA: For Turkish Companies Selling to the US
A plain-language starter guide to the core concepts of CCPA/CPRA, consumer rights, and practical compliance steps for Turkish companies selling services or products to California consumers.
Binding Corporate Rules (BCR): A Guide for Corporate Groups
How can multinational corporate groups share personal data across borders safely? We explain what Binding Corporate Rules (BCR) are, their place in the KVKK regime, and the approval process step by step.
How to Prepare a Standard Contract and Notify the Board
In the tiered cross-border transfer system introduced by Turkey's 2024 KVKK reform, we explain step by step how to prepare a standard contract, choose the right module, and notify the Board within the set period.
International Data Transfers Under KVKK: The New Regime, Standard Contracts and Undertakings
A step-by-step explanation of KVKK's cross-border transfer regime after the 2024 reform — adequacy decisions, standard contracts, binding corporate rules and incidental derogations.
Compensation and Legal Remedies Under the KVKK
What remedies are available to someone whose personal data is processed unlawfully? We offer a holistic framework covering administrative litigation against Board decisions, material and moral damages under general provisions, and the criminal dimension.
How to Read KVKK Board Decisions and Apply Them in Your Business
A practical guide to monitoring the principle and summary decisions published by the Turkish Data Protection Board, extracting lessons from them, and mapping the takeaways onto your own processes.
KVKK Administrative Fines 2026: Ten Lessons From Board Decisions
We summarise the structure of KVKK administrative fines, the aggravating/mitigating factors, and ten practical lessons from Board decisions for businesses.
Dark Patterns and KVKK: Consent Manipulation and Its Legal Risks
Pre-ticked boxes, guilt-tripping text, and hidden reject links... Dark patterns manipulate users, invalidate consent, and create serious legal risk. We break down the most common patterns and how to fix them.
Is Google Analytics 4 KVKK-Compliant? A Compliance Checklist
It is the setup, not GA4 itself, that decides: we cover blocking before consent, Consent Mode, data retention, processing terms, and cross-border transfer with a step-by-step checklist.
A Guide to Setting Up Google Consent Mode v2 in a KVKK-Compliant Way
Google Consent Mode v2 is a signal system that governs how Google tags behave based on user consent. This guide walks through the four consent signals, the correct default settings, and KVKK-compliant integration with your consent management platform.
Consent Records: What Must You Prove in an Audit?
Obtaining consent is not enough, you must prove it: we explain how to keep audit-ready consent records showing who consented, when, to what, and with which text version.
Is a 'Reject' Button Mandatory in Cookie Banners? The Symmetrical Choice Rule
If your cookie banner only has an 'Accept' button, the consent you collect is most likely invalid. We explain the symmetrical choice rule, why a reject button is required, and how to build a compliant banner step by step.
KVKK-Compliant Cookie Banner Examples and Design Principles
Rejecting as easy as accepting, no pre-ticked boxes, and prior blocking: we explain the design principles of a KVKK-compliant cookie banner with examples and a checklist.
What Is a Cookie Scan and Why Does Your Website Need One?
We explain what a cookie scan is, why you can't know your site's hidden third-party cookies on your own, and how scanning enables cookie compliance.
When Is a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) Needed? Decision Tree and Template
A Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) is a good practice that helps you foresee risks in high-risk processing. This guide explains when it is needed with a decision tree and how to run one with a step-by-step template.
Data Breach Notification: A 72-Hour Playbook
A practical crisis playbook for a data breach: what counts as a breach, the 72-hour rule, and the detect–contain–notify–document steps.
Data Security Measures: A Guide to Administrative and Technical Controls
The Turkish Data Protection Law (KVKK) requires both administrative and technical security measures to be taken together to protect personal data. This guide brings together the two groups of controls, implementation steps and a practical checklist.
Data-Subject Requests (DSAR): Building a 30-Day Response Process
A guide to building an end-to-end process for answering data-subject requests (DSAR) within 30 days under KVKK — from identity verification to refusal grounds.
Retention and Disposal Policy: Schedule Table and Template
Controllers registered with VERBİS are expected to have a retention and disposal policy. This guide covers the mandatory elements, an example retention schedule and a step-by-step disposal workflow.
KVKK Compliance Checklist: 12 Steps to Be Audit-Ready
A comprehensive, practical 12-step compliance checklist to be ready for a KVKK audit — from data inventory to breach response plan.
Privacy Notice and Explicit Consent: A Complete Guide With Examples
We explain the difference between the duty to inform and explicit consent, what a privacy notice must contain, and the conditions for valid consent — with examples.
VERBİS Registration and Data Inventory: A Step-by-Step Checklist (2026)
Who must register with VERBİS, how to build a data inventory, and how to keep the registration up to date — a practical step-by-step checklist for 2026.
KVKK vs GDPR: A Comprehensive Comparison, Overlaps and Compliance Mapping
A detailed look at the key differences and overlaps between KVKK and the GDPR — covering scope, legal bases, data-subject rights, international transfers and administrative fines — plus a practical mapping to comply with both at once.
Data Controller or Data Processor? Differences and Responsibilities
Under Turkey's KVKK, the roles of data controller and data processor create different obligations. This guide explains both definitions, the criteria that separate them, contract requirements and a practical checklist.
KVKK Glossary: Key Concepts and Definitions
A practical glossary that groups and explains the 25 most critical KVKK concepts, from data controller and explicit consent to VERBIS and cross-border transfer.