NEWSLETTER-2020-metin

151 COMPETITION LAW computers of the undertakings’ officials, which may cause concern for the undertaking executives. Considering these concerns observed, in practice, the Board has published a Guideline on the Examination of Digital Data during On- Site Examinations (“Guideline”) in its decision dated 08.10.2020, in order to solidify the limits of on-site inspection authority. The Guideline The Guideline sets a general framework regarding the inspec- tion and storage of undertakings’ data and documents in electronic media and information systems during on-site inspections. Within this framework, the procedures and principles set by the Guideline regarding investigation of digital data during on-site inspections are summarized, below: Authority to Inspect Authority experts are authorized to inspect all kinds of servers, desktops, computers/laptops, information systems, such as portable devices, and other storage tools, such as CD, DVD, USB, external hard disks, back-up records and cloud services that contain the under- taking’s digital data. Thus, it is clear that experts are not limited to computer analysis, but may also examine servers, and all other archives and backups of the undertakings. Moreover, it is clearly stated that even cloud services will be the subject of investigation. It is already known that competition experts work with IT special- ists during on-site examinations. IT experts scan the servers of the undertakings, and it is possible to recover even deleted documents. Sometimes, there are objections by the executives of the undertakings regarding the access of IT specialists to the servers. It is observed, in particular, that international companies oppose the experts’ requests to access their data stored abroad and, particularly, cloud storage services. The Guideline reinforces that experts conducting on-site inspections are authorized to review all of these resources.