This notice informs visitors to legalistanbul.org and people who contact us through the website about personal data under Turkey’s Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data (KVKK). Using the site, reading this notice or sending us a message does not itself give consent to optional analytics or to processing for other purposes.
1. Data Controller and Contact Details
The data controller is Atty. Barış Dumlupınar, practising under the office name Legal Istanbul. His Istanbul Bar Association registration number is 85470.
- Address
- Esentepe Mahallesi Büyükdere Caddesi No:100, Şişli / Istanbul, Turkey
- info@legalistanbul.org
- Telephone
- +90 540 240 40 60
2. What Data Is Collected, and How?
Through contact forms, email, telephone or a messaging channel you choose, we may process your name, email address, telephone number, WeChat ID if provided, legal topic and message. Guide request forms may also collect your nationality and the guide requested. A form message also includes the address of the page from which the request was made.
When you access the website, the server and external services you use may process technical information such as your IP address, browser and device details, requested page, access time and error logs. Optional analytics and the browser preference record are described separately below.
For an initial enquiry, share only what is needed to understand your request. General website forms do not request file uploads. Do not enter passport copies, health information, criminal case documents, passwords or other sensitive material in these forms; if documents are needed, first agree an appropriate channel with us. If a professional engagement is established, processing within the case is assessed separately and additional information is provided where required.
3. Purposes and Legal Grounds
- Assessing and answering your request: KVKK Article 5(2)(c) for pre-contract steps directly related to your request for legal services; for other enquiries, Article 5(2)(f), our legitimate interest in managing correspondence, provided this does not harm your fundamental rights and freedoms.
- Legal obligations and protection of rights: Article 5(2)(ç) for mandatory records and duly authorised official requests; Article 5(2)(e) for records necessary to establish, exercise or protect a right.
- Website operation, security and remembering preferences: Article 5(2)(f), our legitimate interest in keeping the site secure and usable without harming your rights; the relevant legal obligation for legally required technical records.
- Optional visitor analytics: explicit consent under Article 5(1), given in the cookie panel, for Google Analytics measurement. Refusing does not prevent you from reading articles or contacting us.
This notice is not permission to collect special-category personal data generally or process it for every purpose. If such data is needed, the applicable condition under KVKK Article 6, the purpose and additional safeguards are assessed separately.
4. Recipients and Reasons for Sharing
Contact and guide forms are sent to FormSubmit to deliver the message to us. Messages are directed to the office email address. Forms on the contact page and guide request forms are also configured to send a copy to a Google/Gmail mailbox. Email, hosting and technical support providers may access data to the extent needed for their services. Data may be shared within the office with authorised people assessing the request, and with competent public authorities or courts where legally required, limited to the relevant purpose.
If you allow analytics, measurement data may be sent to Google. When you follow links to WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat, LinkedIn or appointment services, the provider’s own data processing terms also apply. Content you share through a chosen channel is transmitted to that service.
5. Cookies and Analytics Choices
Your cookie-panel choice is stored for up to 180 days in a local browser record named li_site_analytics_consent_v1. This record remembers the choice; it does not itself analyse visits.
If you agree, Google Analytics is activated through Google Tag Manager. Measurement may cover page visits, scrolling, link clicks, and device and browser information. Automatic measurement may also record destination URLs and information about form interactions. The site’s custom contact events do not include your message or form-field contents. Advertising measurement is not permitted. The site’s analytics cookies are configured to last up to 180 days; this is not the same as the retention period for all records held by Google.
You can change your choice using Cookie settings in the footer. Withdrawing consent stops subsequent measurement and clears the site’s analytics cookies; it does not automatically delete records already sent to Google. Analytics is disabled in local previews. See also Google’s privacy explanation.
6. Maps, Fonts and External Content
Some pages use Google Fonts, Google Maps or images hosted on external servers. When your browser loads them, your IP address and technical connection information may be transmitted to that provider. These content requests operate separately from optional analytics consent. When you visit an external website, its privacy terms apply.
Travel dates entered in the 90/180 calculator are used in your browser for the calculation; the calculator does not send those dates to the office. This function is separate from visitor analytics you allow on the page.
7. Services Outside Turkey
Using FormSubmit, Google services and international communication platforms you choose may result in data being processed on servers outside Turkey. International transfers are subject to the conditions in KVKK Article 9. Consent to analytics in the cookie panel is not, on its own, a transfer safeguard for every international transfer.
For information about a particular recipient, service or transfer, contact info@legalistanbul.org. This notice does not state that a particular standard contract has been signed with providers or that all data is stored in Turkey.
8. Retention and Security
Correspondence is kept only for as long as needed to handle the request, fulfil applicable legal obligations and protect a right. If a legal case file is opened, different statutory retention periods may apply depending on the matter. When the processing purpose ends and no other legal reason requires retention, data is deleted, destroyed or anonymised.
The periods described above apply to browser preferences and the site’s analytics cookies. External service providers’ records may also be subject to their own retention arrangements. Access is limited to people who need it for their work; the general enquiry form should not be used to share confidential case files.
9. Your KVKK Rights and How to Apply
Under KVKK Article 11, you may learn whether your personal data is processed and request information about that processing, its purpose, whether it is used for that purpose, and recipients within or outside Turkey. You may request correction of incomplete or inaccurate data, deletion or destruction where Article 7 conditions apply, and notification of these actions to recipients. You may object to an adverse result arising solely from automated analysis and seek compensation for damage caused by unlawful processing.
Submit your application in Turkish, in signed writing to the office address above, or email info@legalistanbul.org from an email address you previously provided to us and that is recorded in our system. Secure electronic signature or mobile signature methods meeting the Communiqué’s conditions may also be used. The subject line “KVKK Başvurusu” helps us identify your request.
Include your name and surname and, for a written application, your signature; your Turkish identity number if a Turkish citizen, or nationality and passport number or identity number if available if a foreign national; your notification address, any reply contact details and your request. Attach relevant information and documents. We aim not to request documents beyond what is necessary to verify identity; do not send identity information through the general website form or public social-media messages.
Requests are answered as soon as their nature permits and within 30 days, normally free of charge; the Board’s tariff may apply to actions involving additional cost. If the request is rejected, the response is inadequate or no response is provided in time, you retain the right to complain to the Board within 30 days of learning of the response and, in any event, within 60 days of your application.
10. Updates and Official Sources
This notice is updated when website services or processing methods change; the update date appears at the top. Providing this information is separate from requesting explicit consent.
If there is any discrepancy between the Turkish version of this text and its translation, the Turkish version shall prevail.