Effective date: 6 October 2026 Version: 2.0 (previous version: 1.0 — 1 September 2026)
Language notice: This is an English translation provided for your convenience. The Turkish version is the binding text; in the event of any discrepancy, the Turkish version prevails. See KVKK Aydınlatma Metni.
Prepared pursuant to Article 10 of Turkish Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data (KVKK) and the Communiqué on the Procedures and Principles to be Followed in Fulfilling the Obligation to Inform. Detailed explanations are in the Privacy Policy.
Who this notice is for:
| Who you are | Section you should read |
|---|---|
| A seafarer or company user with an account on Pelastra | §1–§7 |
| A person who fills in the demo request or contact form on Pelastra.com | §8 |
| A person added by a user as a reference or emergency contact | §9 |
| An employee of a maritime company whose records that company keeps using Pelastra | §10 |
1. Data controller
Your personal data is processed, in the scope explained below, by Melih Can Akbulut (Soğanlık Yeni Mah. Atatürk Cad. No: 13 D: 5, 34880 Kartal / İstanbul) acting as data controller. Contact: [email protected]
Important distinction: For the records a maritime company keeps on Pelastra about its own personnel, vessels and operations, the data controller is that company; Pelastra is in the position of processing these records on the company's behalf (see §10). Sections §2–§7 of this notice concern the data Pelastra processes on its own behalf.
2. Personal data processed
| Category | Content |
|---|---|
| Identity | First name, last name, date and place of birth, gender, nationality, marital status, military service status, Turkish national identity number, mother's and father's name (optional) |
| Contact | E-mail, phone, country / province / district, full address, postal code |
| Professional experience | Rank, sea service history, vessel and company information, education, skills, foreign languages, job preferences |
| Documents | Passport, seaman's book, certificate of competency (CoC), flag state endorsement, visa, STCW and other certificates: their numbers, dates, issuing authorities and scanned copies |
| Finance | Bank account (IBAN, account number, SWIFT, bank) (optional); subscription and plan information |
| Visual records | Profile photo, images you share |
| Physical characteristics | Height, weight, shoe size, clothing size |
| Special category — health | Health certificate records — document type, name, number, issuing institution and dates (with explicit consent). No medical content, result or diagnosis is processed |
| Communication content | Messages, community posts and comments, friendships, notifications |
| Transaction security | IP address, browser information, session and device information, operation audit records, access records |
| Legal proceedings | Acceptances of legal texts and consent records, requests from official authorities, dispute records |
3. Purposes of processing
- Creating your membership record, verifying your identity and managing your session
- Storing your seafarer profile and your identity, document and bank information; tracking document validity periods to send you reminders
- Displaying your profile through a share link within the scope you select
- Making your profile, document, identity, bank and emergency contact information available to the company whose personnel invitation you have accepted
- Generating a professional summary with artificial intelligence, if you request it
- Providing messaging, friendship, community and real-time notification features
- Providing content on developments in maritime legislation
- Providing paid plans and carrying out billing and accounting processes
- Ensuring platform security, preventing abuse, and keeping audit and access records
- Proving consents and acceptances of texts
- Responding to your requests and complaints; fulfilling legal obligations and responding to requests from official authorities
4. Method of collection and legal bases
Your personal data is collected electronically:
- through your direct entry on the platform,
- from Google if you choose Google sign-in (name, e-mail, and the information that the e-mail address has been verified),
- automatically while you use the platform (IP address, browser and device information, operation records),
- from the information entered on your behalf by the company whose personnel you are, and from the seafarer register query (Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (Ulaştırma ve Altyapı Bakanlığı)) carried out at the company's request.
| Legal basis | For which data |
|---|---|
| Art. 5(2)(c) — Necessary for the establishment or performance of a contract | Identity, contact, professional experience, documents, finance, communication content; information made available to the company |
| Art. 5(2)(ç) — Legal obligation of the data controller | Financial records, requests from official authorities, consent records |
| Art. 5(2)(e) — Necessary for the establishment, exercise or protection of a right | Consent and text acceptance records, audit records |
| Art. 5(2)(f) — Legitimate interest (provided it does not harm your fundamental rights and freedoms) | Transaction security records, IP, sending notifications |
| Art. 5(1) — Explicit consent | AI-generated professional summary |
| Art. 6(2) — Explicit consent | Health certificate records |
For processing based on explicit consent, the Explicit Consent Text is additionally submitted for your approval. If you do not give explicit consent, only the relevant feature becomes unavailable; your membership and other features are unaffected.
5. Transfers of personal data
Domestic
Our servers and database are located in Türkiye (İstanbul).
| Recipient | Data transferred | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| The company whose personnel invitation you have accepted | Profile, documents, health certificate records, identity and bank information, emergency contacts (to authorised users) | Carrying out employment and vessel operations |
| Persons you give a share link to | Only the sections you select | Displaying your profile |
| Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure | Turkish national identity number and seaman's book number | Seaman's book query at your company's request |
| Natro — Çizgi Telekomünikasyon A.Ş. (İstanbul) | Platform data | Server hosting |
| Competent public institutions and organisations | To the extent legally required | Legal obligation |
Abroad (KVKK Art. 9)
| Recipient | Country | Data | Purpose | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare, Inc. | Eastern Europe (R2) / global | Uploaded files; IP and request information for network protection | File storage, network security | Standard contract (Art. 9(4)) |
| Brevo (Sendinblue SAS) | France (EU) | E-mail address and e-mail content | Sending and receiving e-mail | Standard contract (Art. 9(4)) |
| Anthropic PBC | USA | Professional profile data | Professional summary (only if you use the feature) | Explicit consent (Art. 9(6)(a)) |
6. Retention
Your data is kept for as long as your account is open; when you delete your account it is permanently deleted after 30 days. Operation audit records are kept for 5 years, access records containing IP addresses for 30 days, application and server logs for 14 days, and financial records for 10 years. Full list: Privacy Policy §7.
7. Your rights (KVKK Art. 11)
By applying to the data controller, you have the right to:
- Learn whether your personal data is being processed,
- Request information if it has been processed,
- Learn the purpose of processing and whether it is used in accordance with that purpose,
- Know the third parties to whom it is transferred domestically or abroad,
- Request rectification if it has been processed incompletely or incorrectly,
- Request erasure or destruction within the conditions set out in KVKK Art. 7,
- Request that operations carried out under (5) and (6) be notified to the third parties to whom the data was transferred,
- Object to a result arising against you through analysis exclusively by automated systems,
- Claim compensation for damage suffered due to unlawful processing.
You can also use the tools on the platform to edit your profile, delete your account, download your data and withdraw your consent.
Application: You may submit your requests to [email protected] (from the e-mail address registered in our system) or in writing to Soğanlık Yeni Mah. Atatürk Cad. No: 13 D: 5, 34880 Kartal / İstanbul. Your application is concluded free of charge within 30 days at the latest. If the operation additionally entails a cost, the fee in the tariff determined by the Personal Data Protection Board may be charged.
If your application is rejected, you find the response insufficient, or no response is given in time, your right to lodge a complaint with the Personal Data Protection Board is reserved.
8. Demo request and contact form
When you fill in the demo request or contact form on pelastra.com:
| Data processed | First name, last name, e-mail, company, job title, phone, fleet size, areas of interest, your message, the page from which the form was submitted and the campaign link, the version of the data processing notice you read, your IP address |
| Purpose | Responding to your request, scheduling a demo, preventing abuse of the forms; if you give permission, sending product announcements |
| Legal basis | Steps prior to the establishment of a contract (Art. 5(2)(c)), legitimate interest (Art. 5(2)(f) — preventing abuse). For commercial electronic messages, your approval (Law No. 6563, Art. 6) |
| Method of collection | Your filling in the form; IP address automatically |
| Transfer | Our server hosting provider (domestic). Not shared with anyone else |
| Retention | IP address 90 days; name, contact details and message are deleted after 2 years, and the record remains with statistical information only |
| Your rights | The rights in §7. You may withdraw your approval for commercial messages at any time by writing to [email protected] |
You do not need to open an account on the platform to fill in these forms.
9. If you have been added as a reference or emergency contact
A Pelastra user may have added you to their profile as a reference (first name, last name, company, position, phone) or as an emergency contact (first name, last name, relationship, phone, e-mail, address). This information is obtained through that user's entry and is stored as part of their profile.
- Purpose: For a reference, being shown to an employer if the user chooses; for an emergency contact, enabling the company the user works for to reach you in an emergency.
- Legal basis: Performance of the contract between us and the user (Art. 5(2)(c)) and legitimate interest (Art. 5(2)(f)).
- Who sees it: The reference — the person who opens a share link the user has separately selected it for; the emergency contact — the authorised users of the company the user works for.
- Retention: Until the user deletes the record or closes their account.
- Your rights: The rights in §7. You may request deletion of your record by writing to [email protected]; we will respond within 30 days.
10. If you are an employee of a maritime company
The company you work for may keep records about you using Pelastra: personnel and crew records, assignment history, rotation and travel, leave records, appraisals, hours of work and rest, safety and injury records, wage entitlements, and documents uploaded by the company (including medical reports). The company may also open a record in your name that cannot be used to sign in.
The data controller for these records is the company. The company is obliged to inform you of the purposes, legal bases and periods for which they are processed; you must also apply to the company to exercise your rights. Pelastra processes this data only on the company's instructions and on its behalf; we forward applications that reach us to the company and help with responding to them. A general overview is in Privacy Policy §3.