Is the Personnel Tracking Program Legal?

Is the Personnel Tracking Program Legal?

Use of Fingerprint Readers in Personnel Tracking Systems Regarding Compliance with the Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK)
20.02.2014
Company employees' personnel records, attendance, salary and clock-in/clock-out times are monitored in detail by personnel attendance control systems (PDKS). Fingerprint, card, and face recognition are among the most commonly preferred personnel attendance control system products. These devices can be used in various access control systems by being installed on doors, turnstiles, entry/exit points and barriers. The main reasons companies prefer fingerprint or face recognition are that each person's biometric pattern is unique and the recognition process can be completed quickly.
Recently, many companies have been questioning whether the use of fingerprint-based PDKS complies with the KVKK (Personal Data Protection Law). Information recorded by fingerprint devices is converted into a binary – numeric value. The fingerprint recognition systems used by our company digitize certain points obtained from the fingerprint image using specialized hardware, and these numbers are processed in a computer environment for control purposes. The device that records a person for identification derives an algorithm through a mathematical calculation developed according to the fingerprint type, converts it into a numeric value and assigns a tracking number; it never captures the fingerprint image or takes a photograph of it.
It is not possible to reconstruct the fingerprint from this number. The process performed is the rapid comparison of the data obtained at the moment of contact with the stored fingerprint data to check for similarity. Records taken as tracking numbers cannot be used for any other purpose. Therefore, there is no situation that would conflict with or raise doubts regarding compliance with the Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK).
Employers want to track and control employees' working hours quickly and accurately. Employees, when they start work, agree to comply with clock-in and clock-out times. Therefore, considering current technology, fingerprint devices are one of the systems that can perform this tracking most effectively.