DRAFT DOCUMENTS PUBLISHED BY THE TURKISH PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION AUTHORITY

Pursuant to the amendments made to the Personal Data Protection Act No. 6698 by Act No. 7499 on the Amendment of the Code of Criminal Procedure and Certain Acts, published in the Official Gazette of 12.3.2024, number 32487;

• Draft Regulation on Procedures and Principles for the Transfer of Personal Data Abroad; and

• Draft Documents on Standard Contracts and Binding Corporate Rules

were published by Turkish Data Protection Authority.

The Authority made these documents available to the public before they became official and asked for comments and evaluations on the draft documents. 

ICO FINES TELECOMS COMPANIES

The ICO, the UK's Data Protection Authority, has fined two companies for making a total of 1.4 million calls over a 13-month period to elderly and vulnerable people who were registered as 'do not call' on the system

The ICO fined Outsource Strategies Ltd, based in Cardiff, £240,000 and Dr Telemarketing Ltd, based in London, £100,000. In 76 separate complaints to the ICO, callers were found to be using heavy pressure tactics for marketing purposes.

AVAST FINED BY CZECH DATA PROTECTION AUTHORITY

The Czech Data Protection Authority has fined Avast Software CZK 351 million (approximately USD 15 million).

The fine was imposed because Avast provided its users' personal data without anonymisation to Jumpshot Inc, a company that provides data to marketers and offers them insights into online consumer behaviour.

JAIL SENTENCE FOR FINNISH COMPUTER HACKER

Finnish hacker Julius Kivimaki has been sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison for blackmailing patients by hacking into the patient database of the Vastaamo psychotherapy centre.

According to Yleisradio Oy, Kivimaki hacked into the database of 33,000 patients of the Vastaamo psychotherapy centre. He then blackmailed both the company and the patients, threatening to publish the data on the 'dark web' if they did not pay up. Kivimaki, who was found guilty, was sentenced to 6 years and 3 months in prison, close to the maximum.

CNIL'S STATEMENT ON THE USE OF CAMERAS IN CARE HOMES

The French data protection authority, the CNIL, has responded to public demands to use cameras in the bedrooms of elderly people in order to prevent abuse of those living in care homes.

The CNIL, with its approach of prioritising the privacy of the individual, stated that certain conditions must be met in order to ensure security by using cameras in the rooms of the elderly. These are

• If there have been previous investigations of mistreatment in the facility,

• If other measures taken to ensure the safety of the elderly (e.g. an emergency button, a double nurse, etc.) have not worked,

• And if there's still any doubt,

cameras can be used to ensure safety.