Privacy & KVKK notice
Last updated: 2026-10-11
1. Data controller
Your personal data is processed by Türkiye Startups (contact: hello@turkiyestartups.com) as data controller under the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 ("KVKK") and, where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR").
2. Data we process
• Identity and contact: name, email address, organisation name; for newsletter subscribers, only the email address. • Account and security: password hash, role, sign-in times, IP address and browser information, records of the consents you gave. • Profile and content: headline, biography, city/country, links, startup details (description, sector, stage, funding figures, logo, pitch deck and video links), investment thesis, mentoring details. • Communication: intro requests and messages you send through the platform. • Usage: anonymous visit statistics (page, referring website, device type) counted without cookies, using a daily-changing code from which you cannot be identified and without storing your IP address; and, only if you allow analytics cookies, Google Analytics data.
3. Purposes and legal grounds
• Setting up and running your membership, publishing the profiles you create and enabling intros and messaging — performance of the membership agreement (KVKK art. 5/2-c). • Security, fraud and abuse prevention, content moderation, keeping logs — legitimate interest and legal obligation (art. 5/2-ç, 5/2-f; Law No. 5651). • Responding to requests and complying with authorities — legal obligation (art. 5/2-ç). • Visitor statistics (Google Analytics) and commercial electronic messages — your explicit consent (art. 5/1), which you can withdraw at any time.
4. Who sees your data and transfers abroad
Profiles you publish are visible to visitors and members, including investors and mentors outside Türkiye. Messages are visible only to their participants. We use service providers that process data on our behalf: hosting (Hostinger), email delivery and, if you allow analytics cookies, Google Analytics (Google LLC, USA). Some of these providers and viewers are located abroad; transfers abroad are made on the basis of your explicit consent and, where available, the safeguards in KVKK art. 9. We share data with public authorities only when legally required. We never sell personal data.
5. Retention
Account and profile data are kept while your membership is active and deleted or anonymised within 6 months after you close your account, unless a longer period is required by law. Consent records and security logs are kept for as long as needed to prove compliance (up to 10 years for contractual records, 2 years for traffic logs under Law No. 5651).
6. Your rights
Under KVKK art. 11 you may ask whether your data is processed, request information, learn the purpose and recipients, request correction or deletion, object to results of automated analysis and claim compensation for unlawful processing. GDPR users also have the rights to restriction and portability. Send requests to hello@turkiyestartups.com from your registered email address; we answer within 30 days free of charge.