Turkiye: Published ruling on scope of data privacy in labor law

On 12 January 2021, the Turkish constitutional court issued a ruling (no. 2018/31036) in a civil lawsuit which sets a precedent for the scope of data privacy in labor law. An employee was subject to an internal audit in which his e-mail correspondences and communication was analysed without his consent. The audit led to his dismissal, which he claimed violated the the Turkish data protection law. The Turkish Constitutional Court ruled that the investigation of corporate e-mails was within the scope of the legitimate interest of the employer and thus did not require explicit consent. Since the employment contract contained all relevant information, the signature was qualified as consent to the investigation of corporate e-mails, resulting in the ruling that data protection law was not violated.