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European Data Act enters into force, putting in place new rules for a fair and innovative data economy

European Data Act for a new and better data economy

Published on: 26/02/2024 News

The European Data Act will ensure fairness in the digital environment by clarifying who can create value from data and under which conditions. It will also stimulate a competitive and innovative data market by unlocking industrial data, and by providing legal clarity as regards the use of data. It protects European businesses from unfair contractual terms in data sharing contracts that one contracting party unilaterally imposes on the other. This will enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), in particular, to participate more actively in the data market. Furthermore, it will allow customers to switch seamlessly (and eventually free of charge) between different cloud providers. Finally, the Data Act introduces measures to promote the development of interoperability standards for data-sharing and for data processing services, in line with the EU standardisation strategy.

EU DATA ACT

The new rules enable users of connected products to access the data generated by these devices, and to share such data with third parties. For example, the owner of a connected car or the operator of a wind turbine will be able to request the manufacturer to share certain data generated by the use of these connected products with a repair service of the owner’s choice. This will give more control to consumers and to other users of connected products and it will boost aftermarket services and innovation. Incentives for manufacturers to invest in data-generating products and services will be preserved, and their trade secrets will remain protected.

 

Public sector bodies will be able to access and use data held by the private sector to help respond to public emergencies such as floods and wildfires, or when implementing a legal mandate where the required data is not readily available through other means.

 

Read the full article here.

More related links:  

EU Official Journal Text

Data Act

Data Act - Questions & Answers

Data Act - Factsheet

Factpage on the European Data strategy

Data Governance Act