PRIVACY NOTICE UNDER THE TURKISH PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION LAW
As the Association for Social and Economic Perspective (“SEPDER”), we attach importance to the protection of your personal data.
This Privacy Notice has been prepared pursuant to Turkish Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data (“KVKK”) in order to inform individuals who visit the sepder.org website, create a user account, apply to or attend congresses, symposiums, conferences and other academic events organised by SEPDER, subscribe to the e-mail newsletter, or otherwise contact SEPDER, regarding the processing of their personal data.
1. Data Controller
Within the scope of the KVKK, your personal data is processed by the following entity acting as the data controller:
Association for Social and Economic Perspective (SEPDER)
Fatih, Istanbul, Türkiye
E-mail: info@sepder.org
Phone: +90 (554) 946 23 86
2. Personal Data Processed
Depending on the nature of the services provided by SEPDER, the following personal data may be processed:
name and surname,
e-mail address and telephone number,
institution, academic title, country and professional information,
user account information,
congress and symposium application information,
paper title, abstract, submitted files and co-author information,
payment and payment receipt information,
congress check-in (QR code scan) and online session attendance records,
participation certificate information (certificate number and the details printed on the certificate),
e-mail address and language preference for newsletter subscriptions,
communication and request records,
cookie preferences and, only if you give your consent, website usage statistics (pages visited, device and browser information),
IP address, session information and transaction security records.
3. Purposes of Processing Personal Data
Your personal data may be processed for the purposes of:
creating and managing user accounts, receiving and evaluating congress and symposium applications, conducting academic peer review and evaluation processes, preparing event programmes, communicating with applicants, verifying payment and participation information, recording congress attendance and issuing participation certificates, enabling third parties to verify the authenticity of certificates, managing academic publication and paper submission processes, responding to user requests and questions, sending the e-mail newsletter if you subscribe, measuring website usage if you consent, ensuring the security of the website and fulfilling legal obligations.
Preliminary check of payment receipts: The file information of an uploaded payment receipt (the program that created the file, its creation date, and whether the same file has been used in another application) is analysed automatically and shown to authorised staff as a warning. This check has no effect on its own; payments are always approved or rejected by authorised staff.
Certificate verification: When a certificate is looked up by its QR code or certificate number, the validity of the certificate and the details already printed on it (name, congress title and paper title) are displayed. Searching is not possible without the certificate number.
Payment receipts and paper files are stored in an area that is not publicly accessible; only the person who uploaded the file and authorised staff can access them.
4. Method and Legal Basis for Collecting Personal Data
Your personal data may be collected electronically through the membership, application, contact and newsletter forms available on sepder.org, documents uploaded to the system, QR code check-in and online session attendance at congresses, e-mail and other electronic communication channels, as well as technical records and cookies generated during use of the website.
Personal data may be processed based on the legal grounds set out in Article 5 of the KVKK, including where processing is directly related to the establishment or performance of a contract, necessary for compliance with a legal obligation, necessary for the establishment, exercise or protection of a right, or necessary for the legitimate interests of the data controller, provided that the fundamental rights and freedoms of the relevant person are not adversely affected.
Sending the e-mail newsletter and the use of analytics cookies are based on your explicit consent; not giving consent does not prevent you from using SEPDER’s other services. You may withdraw your consent at any time: for analytics cookies, use the “Cookie Preferences” link at the bottom of the website; for the newsletter, write to info@sepder.org.
5. Transfer of Personal Data
Your personal data may be transferred, limited to the purposes of processing, to SEPDER’s authorised employees, congress and symposium organising or scientific committees, academic reviewers, collaborating universities and academic institutions, IT and hosting service providers, payment or financial institutions, and legally authorised public institutions and authorities.
Where personal data is transferred outside Türkiye, such transfers shall be carried out in accordance with the conditions set out in Article 9 of the KVKK. The services on the website that may involve a transfer abroad are:
Google Analytics (Google): loaded only if you select “Accept” in the cookie notice, in which case your website usage data is transferred to Google servers abroad. Data sharing for advertising and personalisation is disabled. If you do not consent, Google Analytics is not loaded at all.
Google Maps (Google): the map on the contact page is loaded only when you press the “Show Map” button; at that moment your IP address and browser information are transmitted to Google.
Apart from these, the website’s fonts and other components are served from SEPDER’s own server; no other service abroad is contacted while you visit the website.
6. Cookies
Two types of cookies are used on the website:
Strictly necessary cookies: session and security cookies that keep you signed in and protect forms against misuse, and the “sepder_cerez_izni” cookie that stores your cookie preference (1 year). These cookies are required for the website to work and do not depend on consent.
Analytics cookies (Google Analytics): used only if you give your consent.
No advertising or marketing cookies are used. You can change your preference at any time using the “Cookie Preferences” link at the bottom of the website; when you withdraw your consent, analytics cookies are deleted from your browser.
7. Retention of Personal Data
Your personal data shall be retained for the period necessary for the purposes for which it is processed, taking into account the retention periods prescribed under applicable legislation.
Records relating to congress and symposium applications may, as a general rule, be retained for five years following the completion of the relevant event. Newsletter subscription records are kept until you end your subscription. Where the retention period expires and no other legal basis requires continued processing, the personal data shall be deleted, destroyed or anonymised. When an application is deleted, its payment receipt and paper file are deleted as well.
8. Your Rights Under the KVKK
Pursuant to Article 11 of the KVKK, you have the right to:
learn whether your personal data is being processed, request information where your personal data has been processed, learn the purpose of processing and whether the data is used in line with that purpose, learn the third parties in Türkiye or abroad to whom your data has been transferred, request correction of incomplete or inaccurately processed data, request deletion or destruction of your personal data where the relevant legal conditions are met, request that third parties to whom your data has been transferred be notified of such correction, deletion or destruction, object to a result to your detriment arising from the analysis of your data exclusively through automated systems, and request compensation for damages suffered as a result of unlawful processing of your personal data.
Your rights are regulated in detail under Article 11 of the KVKK.
9. Applications and Contact
To exercise your rights under the KVKK or obtain information regarding your personal data, you may submit your application in writing or from the e-mail address you have previously provided to SEPDER and that is registered in our system, to the address below.
Association for Social and Economic Perspective (SEPDER)
E-mail: info@sepder.org
Phone: +90 (554) 946 23 86
Website: sepder.org
Applications are concluded free of charge as soon as possible and within thirty days at the latest, depending on the nature of the request. If the process requires an additional cost, the fee set by the Personal Data Protection Board may be charged.
Last updated: 1 October 2026
