ANKARA - Turkish Daily News


The country's top policing body demanded the authority to process private personal data in order to prevent crime in an official position released yesterday on the draft of a new law on the protection of personal data.

The Gendarmerie submitted its view in response to a call to all concerned institutions by the deputy head of the parliamentary Justice Commission and Justice and Development Party or AKP deputy Hakkı Köylü. The Gendarmerie suggested replacing “data owners' rightful interests” with “fulfillment of duties set up by law” a phrase considered more specific to define the condition of processing information without the consent of the data owner. “Prevention of crime is as important as its investigation. Private personal data must be allowed to be processed” read the Gendarmerie's request. The Gendarmerie also opposed the composition of the seven-member Board of Personal Data Protection.

The draft bill enables only the ministerial board to choose members which creates concerns about personal rights and freedoms argued the Gendarmerie. Different institutions must contribute to the election of board members like the Higher Education Board or YÖK professional organizations and different ministries by presenting candidates to the ministerial board the Gendarmerie maintained.