Last week, The Competition Board’s (“Board”) decision dated 29.09.2022 and numbered 22-44/646-278 was published on the Turkish Competition Authority (“TCA”) website. By the Decision, Loreal Türkiye Kozmetik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş. (“Loreal”) was imposed a fine at the rate of five per thousand over its 2021 turnover on the grounds that the onsite inspection carried out at Loreal premises was prevented.
In the case subject to the Decision, it was detected by the TCA personnel that two messages were deleted from a WhatsApp group created among Loreal employees by using the “Delete for Everyone” function after the onsite inspection began. In the assessment made by the Board regarding the case, it has been concluded that the onsite inspection was prevented through the deletion of WhatsApp messages and this behavior should be acknowledged as counter-forensics.
Consequently, the Board’s precedent regarding accepting the deletion of the communication data after the starting of onsite inspection as the prevention of onsite inspection has been ruled again.