Turkey has tightened rules for collective internet use providers, introducing more detailed requirements for filtering and monitoring internet users. Collective internet use providers are defined as real persons or legal entities which provide internet for a certain amount of time, or for a certain area. For example, hotels, convention centers, or schools. Under the changes, these providers must now introduce more detailed systems to filter online criminal content, as well as identify internet users. They must also now store users’ access details for two years.
The Regulation on Collective Internet Use Providers (“Regulation”) was published in Official Gazette numbered 30035 on 11 April 2017, entering into effect on the same date.
The Regulation introduces new obligations for collective internet use providers, which must now:
- Apply a more detailed filter system to identify criminal content.
- Develop systems to identify internet users in public places (for example, internet cafes), such as via short message services (SMS) to identify users.
- Record users’ access details and store the data for two years. There were previously no recording and storage requirements.
Please see this link for full text of the Regulation (only available in Turkish).
