The Communiqué on the Procedure and Principles Regarding the Personnel Certification Mechanism (“Communiqué”) drafted by the Personal Data Protection Authority (the “Authority”) was published in the Official Gazette dated 6.12.2021 and numbered 31681.
The Communiqué determines the procedures and principles regarding the certification of persons within the Data Protection Officer Program in accordance with the (TS) EN ISO/IEC 17024 standard.
Persons holding the title of Data Protection Officer within the scope of the Communiqué are deemed to have sufficient knowledge of personal data protection legislation and may use this title throughout the validity period of the certificate. In accordance with Article 14 of the Communiqué, the validity period has been determined as 4 years from the announcement of the exam results. As per Article 4 of the Communiqué the term Data Protection Officer has been included in our legislation.
pursuant to Article 5 paragraph 2 of the Communiqué, the data controller and/or the data processor appointing a Data Protection Officer does not remove the data controller’s and/or data processor’s responsibility to comply with the Personal Data Protection Law numbered 6698 and relevant legislation.
In accordance with Article 11 of the Communiqué, those who have received a certificate of participation in the last 4 years before the exam date or those who have a valid Data Protection Officer Certificate, and those who meet the conditions determined in the program, are entitled to apply for the Data Protection Officer Certificate exam.
The Authority shall be responsible for the establishment and management of the Certificate Tracking and Verification Information System (“SERTABIS”), in accordance with Article 15 of the Communiqué, allowing public inquiries to ensure that the certification activities are carried out impartially, transparently and effectively. In SERTABIS, the information contained in the certificate of participation, the information of the personnel certification information and the changes in their status, the information on the certificate holders, the dates of the exams held within the scope of the program, as well as certificate dates, certificate numbers, certificate validity periods and certificate status of those who pass the exams, shall be included.
Pursuant to Article 17 of the Communique, complaints or appeals within the scope of the program shall be made to the personnel certification institution. In cases where the complaint or objection application is rejected by the personnel certification institution or no response is given within 30 days from the application, the complainant may apply to the Authority within 30 days from the date of becoming aware of the response of the personnel certification institution and in any case within 60 days from the application date. Pursuant to the relevant article, it is not possible to apply to the Authority without exhausting this complaint or appeal procedure.
Personnel certification institution shall be accredited by the Turkish Accreditation Agency (“TURKAK”) and TURKAK may suspend accreditation completely or partially or narrow the scope of the institution.
You may reach the full Turkish version of the Communiqué via the link below:
https://www.resmigazete.gov.tr/eskiler/2021/12/20211206-4.htm
