Examining the breaching of personal data in cyberspace from the perspective of psychological violence

The digital world has taken an active role in people’s lives day by day. In this context, information that directly or indirectly identifies the person has also found its place in the digital world. The right to privacy and the protection of personal data, which is also defined as a personal right, can be violated consciously or unconsciously in the digital world due to anonymity, speed and easy accessibility. When it comes to the illegal capture, sharing and use of personal information by others without their consent, people are sometimes unaware that these actions are against the law. However, data breach acts can cause emotional trauma on the person. Emotional effects can sometimes be much more severe and irreversible than physical effects. For this reason, I carried out my study on the importance of data security and that the violation of personal data can also cause psychological violence. The research was carried out online by creating a questionnaire as a data collection tool with the quantitative research method. As a study group, it was aimed to reach people over the age of 18 in Turkey. In order to address the problematic of the research, an online questionnaire was created via Google Forms and this questionnaire was distributed on the online network and 50 people, 22 female and 28 male, were reached from Turkey by random sampling method.In the survey, 17 multiple choice questions and 2 open ended questions were asked. The questions are prepared within the scope of the determination of whether the personal data of the individuals have been violated and the psychological effects on individuals whose personal data are violated.As a result; It is considered that the violation of personal data is directly proportional to the negative psychological effects on individuals.