Outcomes from the HealthTech Workshop

On December 23, 2017, Istanbul Bilgi University’s Information Technology Law Institute hosted the “Personal Data Protection Law’s Effects on the Health and Insurance Sector Workshop”

The workshop started with opening speeches by the president of the Personal Data Protection Authority, Faruk Bilir, the director of the IT Law Institute, Leyla Keser, and the secretary general of Turkey Association of Insurance. Participants included those from the health sector, insurance sector, and members of the Turkish Data Protection Authority.

After the opening speeches, problems that the health sector and insurance sector experience while complying with the Personal Data Protection Law were discussed.

The main topics discussed were:

• The need to internalize the relevant personal data protection practices as a culture,

• The need to train health personnel to convey the importance of the personal data protection Law,

• Sharing patient information upon a request by the patients' relatives,

• The importance of collaboration between academia, and the public bodies in regarding legal regulations,

• The need for all personal data processing activities to comply with the rules of law and good faith,

• The Data Controller’s liability to communicate to the data subject by the means and methods appropriate to the data subject at the time data is first collected,

• The confidentiality obligation of anyone who processes personal data,

• The introduction of additional safeguards for health data in KVKK, as in the case of GDPR,

The President of the Turkish Data Protection Authority stated that these meeting were very important and useful due to the private sector and academy coming together. The president further expressed that he would like to continue these types of meetings in the following months.

Director of the IT Law Institute, Leyla Keser, also stated that the Institute will continue to host these workshops for other sectors. The workshop lasted for 8 hours.