EU Data Act
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Data has become the most sought-after commodity in the digital economy − driving innovation, informing decision making and shaping the future of a wide range of industry sectors. The EU Data Act is designed to create a Single Market for industrial data in the European Union by setting common basic rules on who can use and access data from connected (Internet of Things) devices across all economic sectors. This incoming Regulation is also meant to facilitate switching between data processing services and promote interoperability.
While the new legislation aims to foster greater transparency and open digital markets to new players, there has been concern about the level of protection it offers for intellectual property and trade secrets.
Key rights & obligations
The Data Act sets the ground rules for business-to-consumer, business-to-business and business-to-government exchange of data in the EU Single Market.
Specific measures include the following:
- Business to Business data sharing obligations for connected products
- Obligations for Data Holders to make data available to consumers
- Prohibited Unfair Contractual Terms related to data access
- Rules for making data available to Public Sector Bodies
- Switching between Data Processing Services
- Safeguards against unlawful international governmental access
- Facilitating Data Spaces and interoperability
- Limits to Intellectual property rights for certain data in databases
Regarding enforcement, Member State authorities will be empowered to impose “effective, proportionate and dissuasive” financial penalties for compliance failures.
The Data Act is expected to be formally adopted by the European Parliament and Council in November/December 2023. After a lead-in period of 20 months, most of the rights and obligations in the Data Act are expected to apply in the third or fourth quarter of 2025.
To find out more about the Data Act and how our experts can help you to conduct a scoping exercise, revise terms of use or determine how third-party data could be used to improve your own services, click here.
