Turkey Introduces New Rules On The Use Of Geographic Data

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The Law on the Amendment of Environmental Law and Other Laws (“ Law “) was published in the Official Gazette on 15 June 2022. The Law introduces significant changes to Law No. 7221 on Amendments on Geographic Information Systems Law and Other Laws.

Recent development

Within the scope of the Law, the upper limit of the fee for geographical permission regulated under the Law on Amendments on Geographic Information Systems Law and Other Laws has been specified, and certification/registration obligations regarding software, sensors and hardware that collect geographical data, as well as administrative sanctions, have been regulated.

The Law is available online here (in Turkish).

What’s new?

The main amendments introduced by the Law are as follows:

• Free-of-charge data sharing with institutions, organizations and universities within the scope of a cooperation for revenue sharing in data mining and new data generation, as well as the collection, production, sharing or sale of geographical data in the National Geographic Data Matrix of Turkey by natural and legal persons, must be in compliance with Law No. 6698 on Protection of Personal Data.
• The fee of the permit to be obtained from the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change (“ Ministry “) will not exceed the Turkish lira equivalent of 100,000 times the permit fee per sheet determined for domestic and foreign natural persons and legal entities.
• Software must be certified within the scope of the Geographic Information System by the Ministry. Certificate fees will be determined and published annually by the Ministry. The procedures and principles regarding the certificates will be regulated by the Ministry.
• Sensors and hardware that collect geographical data must be registered electronically to the system to be established by the Ministry. Registration and certification requirements are not required for software, sensors and hardware that operate in the field of defense, security and intelligence.
• The amendments regulate administrative fines to be implemented in the case of violation of the obligations stipulated under the Law on Amendments on Geographic Information Systems Law and Other Laws in detail. In this context, if the geographical data permission is not obtained within three months from the date of the application of the administrative fine, an additional administrative fine of TRY 100,000 will be implemented for each detention of use without a certificate. The administrative fine can be objected before the competent administrative court within 30 days. This decision will be final.
• Within the scope of the cooperation with the Ministry, real persons and legal entities can obtain a license from the Ministry to collect, produce, share, sell, generate and mine geographical data in the Geographical Data Responsibility Matrix of Turkey.

Conclusion

As per the Law, the upper limit has been set for the collection, production, transfer and sale of geographical data and the obligations regarding the license and certificate to be obtained by those who will engage in such activities were regulated. With the amendments, the administrative sanctions to be imposed in the case of violations were also regulated. Stakeholders should closely follow the amendments and the secondary regulations to be issued by the Ministry regarding the procedures and principles.