The state on the one side, Facebook on the other

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The debates on WhatsApp are still ongoing, not only in Turkey but all around the world as well. WhatsApp, as the most widely used messaging app of the world, has imposed new terms of use and privacy on its users, which will allow it to share data with Facebook, and users are now mostly concerned about their messages being read by third parties.

Hasan Selçuk Turan, the Chair of İstanbul Bar Association's Commission on Protection of Personal Data, says that there is no connection between the change in privacy terms and 'the content of messages being read." Indicating that there is no debate about this in the world, he says, "Only we have this debate and it is caused by lack of information."

According to WhatsApp's statements about the issue so far, the change in question only concerns the accounts getting business services from the company, notes Turan and adds:

"It is not very common in Turkey. I mean, for those setting up and doing business through WhatsApp... It has not yet been common in our country.

"Today, legal entities can have a WhatsApp account without having a mobile phone in the background. This WhatsApp account is not used for communication between persons, but used for purposes of business. This is exactly where Facebook has changed its terms."

'A dangerous arm wrestling between state, company'

Turan says that Facebook wants to earn money from the business accounts and briefly adds the following:

"This is exactly what Turkey is confused about. Because people have a lack of information. I hope that it will get better as we explain it more and more.

"For the time being, both the Competition Authority and the Personal Data Protection Authority (KVVK) have launched inquiries against the company. Both probes are still ongoing. The KVVK will end its investigation in a few days. It will probably conclude that 'you cannot share the data with another institution based on open consent.'

"But the real problem will start after this. Because making them put this decision into practice is something else. Facebook does not have a local representative in Turkey. On the one side, there is the decision of the State of Republic of Turkey; on the other side, there is the company that says, 'I won't care about it.' This arm wrestling is something dangerous.

"Turkey's defeat is bad. If Facebook does not care about Turkey and not take a step back and if Turkey imposes a ban on its use, people will start using VPN, thereby breaking down the state power themselves."

'Fines are endorsement-indexed in the EU'

Hasan Selçuk Turan reminds us that Facebook pledged to abide by the domestic laws, underlining that as social media companies have got more powerful, they do not always do what they pledged:

"If the pressure of the state on the related parties is not intense and if this pressure cannot prevent them from doing something, as is now the case with WhatsApp, companies can act more comfortably and say, 'My clients come to me anyway and you don't fine me' and behave as they wish, which is what Facebook is doing now.

"It is not only Facebook; it is also what Twitter and Instagram have been doing. Those we want in Turkey do not come here and open an office.

"It is actually why WhatsApp abides by the legislation of the European Union (EU) and does not impose these terms of privacy there. The EU does not allow the data obtained from some channels to be combined with other data. That is why Facebook cannot use the data obtained from WhatsApp.

"And the reason behind this is the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). GDPR is a tough regulation. The EU has the authority to fine the company four percent of its annual return. And it indeed enforces this sanction, which leaves the companies with their hands tied.

"Companies do not want to have trouble with the GDPR, but they can do whatever they like in other countries of the world as these countries do not have such good data protection laws.

"For instance, in Turkey, the maximum fine to be given to a company is 1 million 900 Turkish Lira, which is not even 300 thousand US dollars. On the one side, there is the authority to impose an endorsement-indexed fine and there is a fine of 300 thousand USD, on the other...

"When you look at it, the Personal Data Protection Law is not a bad law. If we define the standard in that regard, the EU is using the version 2 now. As for Turkey, it uses the version 1. This is how we describe it best.

"The law used by the EU before the current one was enacted in 1995. We use its translation now, with some minor changes. That is why I say that we use version 1. Now, they have enacted a new law, but there are no huge differences between the two. There is only a little difference in details, in practice. So, we can say that Turkey's law is in the world standards. But, as I said earlier, Turkey's fines are low; so is its sanction power."

'The main question: Will Turkey step back?'

When we ask whether he thinks WhatsApp will step back or not, Turan says, "I don't think it will. We are talking about a 100 billion dollar company. It must have thought and calculated it beforehand and it must now be acting accordingly. It makes the same changes in the US and Japan as well.

"If we say that it does all this in a pre-planned manner, I would recommend Facebook to change its strategists if it took a step back from this. Why should it step back from here? But the real question is: Will Turkey step back? This is the question that needs to be asked." (HA/SD)