Part of the European Data Strategy
On 23 February, the European Commission presented its proposal for the EU Data Act. The EU Data Act follows the Data Governance Act and is therefore the second relevant legislation initiative arising from the European data strategy that was presented in February 2020. The idea behind this strategy is to make the European Union a frontrunner in today’s data-driven society.
The earlier Data Governance Act creates processes and structures to facilitate the sharing of data. The EU Data Act as presented on 23 February 2022 gives more insight into who can profit from sharing such data, and on what conditions. The common goal is to create an internal market within which the free movement of data is made possible.
This concerns data generated by smart services and products such as smart watches and smart speakers. When consumers buy such a product, it is not really clear who is allowed to do what with the generated data. Among other things, this EU Data Act intends to give substance to this topic.
Innovation versus Impact on Business Operations
It follows from the proposal for the EU Data Act that organizations will lose the right to include in their general terms and conditions that all data of the product sold is and remains their property. The data will have to be stored in open formats in order to allow easy sharing with a customer who so requests. In addition, companies will become obliged to design and manufacture products in such a manner that data generated by their use are (1) by default, (2) securely and (3) where relevant and appropriate, directly accessible to the user. Companies will also have to take steps to ensure that access from outside the European Union is not possible.
The EU Data Act can absolutely ensure innovation and more grip on data, but will also have great impact on, among others, the business operations of enterprises inside the European Union.
The full draft regulation is too elaborate to discuss in this short article, but it is certainly an interesting topic to keep a close eye on. The full text of the EU Data Act Proposal is available here.
Next Stop: EU Legislation Discussions
Now that the proposal has been presented, we are entering the phase of EU legislation discussions. It is customary and to be expected that in the coming period, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union will propose amendments. Time will tell to what extent the original proposal for the EU Data Act will be left intact.
