Age verification on Sincerus in Türkiye

From 1 November 2026, social networks that can be reached from Türkiye, Sincerus included, may not serve anyone under 15 and must check age with an e-Devlet age verification token when an account is created. The rule comes from Law No. 7578, which amended Additional Article 4 of Law No. 5651, and a regulation of the Presidency’s Cybersecurity Directorate.

Law No. 7578 was published in the Official Gazette on 1 May 2026 [1]. The regulation, “Sosyal Ağ Sağlayıcı Tarafından Çocuklara Özgü Ayrıştırılmış Hizmet Sunulmasına ve Yaş Doğrulamaya İlişkin Yönetmelik”, was published on 10 October 2026 (no. 33396) and is in force from 1 November 2026 [2].

Sincerus is for people 18 and older, in Türkiye and in the United States. The regulation describes a separate, restricted service for 15 to 17 year olds, and Sincerus doesn’t offer one in Türkiye. So when the token says 15 to 17, no Turkish account is opened.

An account counts as Turkish when its country is Türkiye or when it was opened from the Turkish App Store.

Sincerus will ask for the token once, when you create your account. In four steps:

1. 1

   Create the token on e-Devlet

   You sign in to e-Devlet yourself and create an age verification token (yaş doğrulama belirteci). Sincerus never asks for your e-Devlet password.

2. 2

   Give it to Sincerus

   When you create your Sincerus account, the app asks you for the token.

3. 3

   Sincerus checks it

   Sincerus checks that the token is genuine and reads one thing from it: whether you are under 15, 15 to 17, or 18 or older.

4. 4

   Sincerus keeps the result, not the token

   Your age group, the date it was verified and a one-way fingerprint of the token are saved with your account. The token is used for nothing else.

The Cybersecurity Directorate hasn’t published its technical guide for the token yet, so details such as whether the token is a code or a file aren’t known. Until it does, Sincerus can’t open sign-ups in Türkiye and isn’t on the Turkish App Store.

Sincerus sees only your age group: under 15, 15 to 17, or 18 and older. The e-Devlet token carries no name, T.C. identity number, date of birth or username, so Sincerus can’t learn who you are from it. You still don’t send Sincerus an ID document or a selfie.

1. Kept

   Your age group, the date it was verified and a one-way fingerprint of the token, for as long as your account exists.

2. Never kept

   The token itself. Sincerus never receives your name, T.C. identity number or date of birth from e-Devlet.

The fingerprint is a one-way hash of the token. It can’t be turned back into the token; it only lets Sincerus refuse a token that has already opened another account.

People who don’t live in Türkiye and are only visiting are exempt from the rule. If your Sincerus account’s country isn’t Türkiye and you don’t use the Turkish App Store, Sincerus doesn’t ask you for a token, for example when you travel to Türkiye with an American account. The regulation also lets visitors get an exceptional age token with their passport.

Sincerus doesn’t open an account in Türkiye, because in Türkiye it is for people 18 and older. If the account already exists, for example because its country was changed to Türkiye or it was asked to verify again, Sincerus hides it and signs it out. It is deleted after 90 days unless you appeal, or turn 18 and verify again before then.

The law doesn’t let any social network serve people under 15, so Sincerus doesn’t open the account.

If an existing account turns out to belong to someone under 15, Sincerus closes it and deletes its data 14 days after the decision, unless an appeal is pending. If the appeal is turned down, the data is deleted after that. Signing in doesn’t reopen a closed account.

If there is reasonable doubt about a Turkish account’s age, for example after a report, Sincerus can ask it to verify again with a new e-Devlet token. Until it does, the account is hidden and signed out.

Every age decision on Sincerus can be appealed, for free and in Turkish. A person reviews every appeal; none is decided automatically. While an appeal is pending, nothing is deleted.

• You appeal from the app, on the screen that shows the decision. If no account was opened, you appeal from the sign-up screen, with an email address for the answer.
• You can appeal the age result, an account being hidden for a new check, and an account being closed.
• You can also complain to the Presidency’s Cybersecurity Directorate (Cumhurbaşkanlığı Siber Güvenlik Başkanlığı) or take the decision to court.

Sincerus will publish its age appeal figures on this page once a year and report them to the Cybersecurity Directorate: the number of appeals, the share accepted and the average time to resolve one. The first report will cover 2026/2027. There are no figures yet, because sign-ups in Türkiye haven’t opened.

The regulation asks social networks to publish the measures they take. These are the measures Sincerus takes in Türkiye:

• Sincerus is for people 18 and older in Türkiye, so there is no service for under-18s there.
• Age is checked with an e-Devlet age token when a Turkish account is created; a typed date of birth isn’t enough.
• The token is used only to check age and isn’t stored. Sincerus receives no identity data from it.
• One token opens one account: a one-way fingerprint of each token is kept so it can’t open a second.
• An account under reasonable doubt is hidden and signed out until it verifies again.
• Accounts of people under 15 are closed and their data deleted; signing in can’t reopen them.
• Appeals are free, in Turkish and decided by a person, and nothing is deleted while one is pending.
• Appeal figures are published here once a year and reported to the Cybersecurity Directorate.

Your age group, its date and the token fingerprint are processed because the law requires it (KVKK Article 5(2)(ç)) and kept for as long as your account exists. Details are in the KVKK aydınlatma metni and the privacy policy. There is also a Turkish version of this page.