The Law of Right to Information No.4982 is published on 24.10.2003 and entered in force after six months, aforementioned law also contains regulations about protection of personal data. The scope and application area of the law is regulated in Article 2 as “This law is applied to the activities of the public institutions and the professional organisations which qualify as public institutions. ” and it is clearly regulated that the law will be applied in the activities of public institutions and organizations and professional organizations that are public institutions. In Article 4 of the law, titled as Right to Information it is mentioned that “Everyone has the right to information. Foreigners domiciled in Turkey and the foreign legal entities operating in Turkey can exercise the right in this law, on the condition that the information that they require is related to them or the field of their activities; and on the basis of the principle of reciprocity. The rights and the obligations of Turkey under the international conventions are reserved.”. Afterwards in Article 5 titled as The Obligation to Provide Information it is present that “The institutions are required to apply administrative and technical measures to provide every kind of information and document, with the exceptions set out in this law, to provide the information for applicants; and to review and decide on the applications for access information promptly, effectively and correctly” When these two regulations are considered together in the case of application of real and legal persons, it is observed that public institutions and organizations acting as data controllers, as well as professional organizations that are public institutions are obligated to provide the necessary information to the applicant, except for the restrictions in the law. When we consider that we accept the relevant person as a real person within the scope of the protection of personal data, real persons can also apply to public institutions and organizations, as well as professional organizations that have the nature of public institutions which is responsible for data. According to Article 11 of law, relevant public institutions and organizations are obligated to provide access to the requested information or document upon application within fifteen working days.

The limits of the right to obtain information with judicial activity subject to judicial supervision in the law related transactions, information and documents related to state secrets, information or documents related to intelligence, the country’s information or documents related to their economic interests, information or documents related to the administrative investigation, judicial information or documents related to the investigation and prosecution, information that would violate the confidentiality of communication and documents, information and documents in the nature of trade secrets, information and documents within the scope of the confidentiality of private life documents, regulations on the internal practices of the institution, information and the documents on ideas and works of art are excluded from the scope of the law.

In Article 21 of the law, it is stated that “With the proviso where the consent of the concerned individual has been received, the information and documents that will unjustly interfere with the health records, private and family life, honour and dignity, and the economical and professional interests of an individual, are out of the scope of the right to information. Due to public interest considerations, personal information or documents may be disclosed by the institutions on the condition that concerned individual is notified of the disclosure at least 7 days in advance and his/her written consent is obtained.”. The concept of personal data is not used in Article 21 of the Law and it is stated that the information or documents that would constitute unfair interference with the private and family life, honor and dignity, professional and economic values of the person other than the health information of the person and the health information will not be shared unless the consent of the person concerned.

Article 32 of the law entered into force six months after its publication on 24.10.2003. There is no doubt that from the date of entry into force of the law until 07.04.2016, when the Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 entered into force, the relevant real person, regulated in Article 11 of the Personal Data Protection Law, is effective in obtaining information from public institutions and organizations within the scope of the right to learn and obtain information. The scope of the Right to Information Law covers a wider area in terms of the fact that it allows learning about other information other than personal data, and legal entities other than real persons can also make applications. However, Law No. 4982, on the other hand, meets the requests for obtaining information not only from all data controllers, but only from public institutions and organizations. On the other hand, the law No. 4982 does not allow the related person to meet all the rights specified in Article 11 of the Personal Data Protection Law. In the law, the time period for obtaining information is determined as 15 days, and this period is shorter than the 30-day period set out in the Personal Data Protection Law. As a result of the application made within the scope of the Personal Data Protection Law, a real person who believes that its right has been violated can apply to the Personal Data Protection Board through a complaint. Within the scope of Law No. 4982, he/she will apply directly to the administrative judiciary.