Privacy Notice (KVKK)

This notice is provided under Article 10 of Türkiye’s Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 (“KVKK”) to inform you about the personal data processed through addisonturkiye.com, its contact and WhatsApp group application forms, and our WhatsApp group.

1. Data controller

Addison Patients Community of Türkiye (volunteer patient community) — founder and group admin: Ahmet Gümüştekin. Contact: iletisim@addisonturkiye.com · +90 555 855 05 50.

A postal address for official correspondence (tebligat) is provided in writing (by email) upon request.

2. How your application data is handled (summary)

3. Personal data processed

• Identity: first name, surname.
• Contact: WhatsApp/phone number, email address (optional), city of residence.
• Special category data (health): your declaration that you are an Addison’s patient or a relative, when and where (hospital/city) the diagnosis was made (in the WhatsApp application message); health information you choose to share in the group.
• Contact entry: your name, number and a short identifying note in the admin’s phone address book.
• Request/message content: notes and messages you write in the forms.
• Security data: technical logs kept by the hosting server when you visit the site (IP address, date-time, browser information).

4. Purposes

• Receiving and evaluating your WhatsApp group application; confirming that you are an Addison’s patient or a relative,
• Adding you to the WhatsApp group (group admission),
• Being able to identify you later in the group (contact entry) and running group membership, group order and the group rules,
• Responding to your contact requests,
• Site and information security, legal obligations and requests from competent authorities.

5. Collection method and legal grounds

Your data is collected electronically, partly by automated means, through the site’s forms, the WhatsApp message you send, email and the admin’s phone address book.

• Identity, contact, contact-entry and request data are processed under KVKK Article 5(2): necessity for establishing and running the membership relationship (c), our legal obligations (ç), and our legitimate interest provided it does not harm your fundamental rights and freedoms (f).
• Health data (special category) is processed under KVKK Article 6 only on the basis of your explicit consent. Without explicit consent your group application cannot be evaluated.

6. Recipients, service providers and transfers abroad

• WhatsApp / Meta: your application message and group chats are transmitted and processed on WhatsApp (Meta Platforms) infrastructure, whose servers are outside Türkiye.
• Google: your entry in the admin’s phone address book (name, phone, short note) is stored as a Google Contacts backup, and the email backup of your application in Gmail, on servers of Google (Google LLC / Google Ireland) outside Türkiye.
• Hosting and email provider: for the website and for delivering emails to iletisim@addisonturkiye.com.
• The transfer abroad via WhatsApp/Meta and Google (Contacts and Gmail) is based on your explicit consent under KVKK Article 9.
• Your data may be disclosed to competent public authorities and courts where legally required.
• Your data is never sold or shared with third parties for advertising or commercial purposes.

7. Retention

Your phone contact entry (and its Google backup), your WhatsApp application message and the email backup are not tied to a fixed calendar period; they are kept until you specifically ask for them to be deleted or removed. On request, the contact entry, the Google backup, your WhatsApp application message and the email backup in Gmail are deleted within 30 days at the latest. Messages you post in the group may, by the way WhatsApp works, also exist on other members’ devices; they can only be deleted by you or the admin to the extent WhatsApp’s “delete for everyone” allows. Data may be kept longer where there is a legal dispute or a statutory retention obligation.

8. Your rights (KVKK Article 11)

• To learn whether your personal data is processed,
• To request information if it has been processed,
• To learn the purpose of processing and whether it is used accordingly,
• To know the third parties in Türkiye or abroad to whom it is transferred,
• To request correction if it is incomplete or inaccurate,
• To request deletion or destruction under KVKK Article 7 (including the contact entry and Google backup),
• To request that corrections/deletions be notified to third parties who received the data,
• To object to a result against you arising from analysis exclusively by automated systems,
• To claim compensation if you suffer damage due to unlawful processing.

You can withdraw your explicit consent at any time; your group membership then ends.

9. How to apply

Send your request in writing, with information that verifies your identity, to iletisim@addisonturkiye.com. Requests are concluded free of charge within 30 days at the latest, depending on their nature. If you are not satisfied with the reply, you may complain to the Personal Data Protection Board (KVKK Kurulu).

10. Governing law and jurisdiction

This notice is governed by the laws of the Republic of Türkiye. Without prejudice to your right to apply to the Personal Data Protection Board, the courts and enforcement offices of Samsun, Türkiye have jurisdiction over disputes arising from the processing of your personal data.

The Turkish version of this notice prevails.

Last updated: 25 October 2026