What is KVKK?

What is KVKK?

KVKK is Turkey’s Personal Data Protection Law. It defines the conditions under which personal data can be processed, including names, phone numbers, email addresses, IP addresses, location data, customer records, employee data, and similar information.

KVKK compliance is not limited to legal text on a website. If a website, CRM, e-commerce platform, or internal application collects personal data, the technical design must support the required controls.

Core Concepts

• Data controller: The person or organization that determines why and how personal data is processed.
• Data processor: A vendor or service provider that processes data on behalf of the controller.
• Disclosure obligation: The duty to explain why data is collected, how it is processed, and with whom it may be shared.
• Explicit consent: A specific, informed, and freely given approval when required by law.
• Retention and deletion: Data should not be kept longer than necessary and should be deleted, destroyed, or anonymized when the retention period ends.

KVKK in Software Projects

KVKK requirements affect technical decisions such as avoiding unnecessary form fields, storing consent records, masking sensitive data in logs, limiting access rights, and making deletion requests manageable. Backups, third-party integrations, and analytics tools should also be reviewed.

KVKK has similar privacy goals to the EU’s GDPR, but its local procedures, authority decisions, and implementation practices in Turkey need separate attention.

In Barlas Dijital projects, KVKK requirements are most visible in forms, CRM systems, membership flows, e-commerce modules, and reporting screens where data minimization and access control must be designed early.