The 44th Global Privacy Assembly (GPA) organized by Türkiye's Personal Data Protection Authority (KVKK) was launched on Tuesday in Istanbul's Haliç Congress Center, as senior officials highlighted the importance of adapting to the new needs that emerged in line with technological developments.

Speaking during the opening speeches, Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said that our personal data being stored by technological giants creates new threats against our personal freedom.

"When talking to our friends, we started to see advertisements for things we mentioned just before on our technological devices a few minutes later. This situation has worried us all," he said and underlined the importance of data protection and privacy.

According to Soylu, the data being stored is used both for negative and positive purposes in the current world, however, the negative aspects of it outweigh the positive sides as long as necessary laws and regulations are not properly enacted and implemented.

"The world is rapidly moving towards a structure based on a single boss and single identity human order," he said and warned that we all will become "consumption animals" unless necessary measurements are taken. This situation threatens our personal liberties and public order and security, he underlined.

Soylu also noted that the United States has been demanding the personal data of Syrian migrants in Türkiye for years, to be used in its own counterterrorism efforts; however, Türkiye has been rejecting these demands due to its responsibility to protect individuals' private data and privacy.

"We have been putting forward a serious migration management since 2011. Despite the demands from the international arena regarding the confidentiality of the personal and biometric data we reach here, we show serious sensitivity, except for terrorists," he said.

He also dismissed some negative reactions to Türkiye's newly adopted anti-disinformation law and gave examples from European countries that have applied harsher laws and regulations against disinformation.

The Press Law, known as the "anti-disinformation regulation," was approved by the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) last week along with a bill proposed to amend certain laws.

Soylu also underlined a vision proposed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently, repeating his words: "We are trying to establish our own universe instead of trying to take place in the virtual universes of others."

The chair of the Turkish Presidency's Digital Transformation Office, Ali Taha Koç, also highlighted the importance of adapting to new technologies.

Explaining that new challenges and needs emerged with the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse, Koç underlined that protecting personal data should be a requirement.

"Unfortunately, we pay the price for the comfort and efficiency provided by technology in the age of data, with privacy," he said.

KVKK Chair Faruk Bilir, for his part, said that since the foundation's membership to the assembly, Türkiye has given significant importance to international efforts in the field.

KVKK leads initiatives for the protection and awareness of personal data and privacy in line with the laws and regulations adopted since 2016, he added.

"The protection of individuals' privacy emerges as an unchanging fact of the changing world," Bilir said.

The protection of privacy is an indicator of civilization, Bilir said underlining the importance of a human-oriented approach.

Law and ethics are complementary elements to the human-oriented approach, he added.

"Technology is indispensable for us, our privacy is our priority," Bilir said.

The event is being attended by data protection authorities and senior managers from across the world and has the broadest participation in terms of events focused on data protection.

At the two-day open session and two-day closed session conference, numerous topics from artificial intelligence to cross-border data transfers, blockchain and the protection of children's personal data will be discussed in terms of privacy, taking into account the current developments in technology.

The main theme of the conference is "A Matter of Balance: Privacy in the Era of Rapid Technological Advancements," aiming to highlight the importance of achieving a balance between privacy and technologies based on data processing.

The conference consists of an open session, in which member authorities and observer organizations as well as those interested in the field of data protection, the business sector, academia, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), professional organizations and press members can participate; and a closed session, that is open only to member authorities and representatives of observer organizations. During the conference, various topics such as AI, Big Data, blockchain, metaverse and cross-border data transfers will be discussed in terms of privacy by taking into account the current developments in technology, and the event will be held simultaneously in Turkish, English, Spanish and French. The agenda of the closed session covers the accreditation of new countries applying to be a member and presentation of reports by working groups operating under the assembly, discussions on administrative issues related to the management of the assembly and the adoption of resolutions.

The GPA first met in 1979 as the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners. The assembly has been the premier global forum for data protection and privacy authorities for more than four decades. The assembly seeks to provide leadership at the international level in data protection and privacy. It does this by connecting the efforts of more than 130 data protection and privacy authorities from across the globe. The GPA’s vision is an environment in which privacy and data protection authorities around the world are able effectively to act to fulfill their mandates, both individually and in concert, through the diffusion of knowledge and supportive connections.

The KVKK is a regulatory and supervisory institution established to monitor the lawful processing of personal data and to ensure the protection of personal data in Türkiye. The KVKK, established in Ankara, the capital of the Republic of Türkiye, in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 that entered into force on April 7, 2016, is a public institution with administrative and financial autonomy authorized for the protection of personal data.