The Data Act establishes common rules governing the sharing of data generated through using connected products or related services (e.g. the Internet of Things (IoT) and industrial machines) to ensure fairness in data sharing contracts. It aims to boost innovation by removing barriers to access to data by consumers and businesses.

The EU Parliament has adopted the text of the draft legislation with some amendments. The text includes measures to allow users access to the data they generate. It also permits companies to decide what data can be shared, and manufacturers to choose not to make certain data available “by design”. The EU Parliament also wants the law to rebalance negotiation power in favour of SMEs when entering into data-sharing contracts with companies in stronger bargaining positions by shielding SMEs from unfair contractual terms.

The text also defines how public sector bodies can access and use data held by the private sector when it is necessary for emergencies, such as floods and wildfires.

MEPs strengthened provisions to protect trade secrets and avoid a situation where increased access to data is used by competitors to retro-engineer services or devices. They also set stricter conditions on business-to-government data requests.

Finally, the Data Act would facilitate switching between providers of cloud services and other data processing services and introduce safeguards against unlawful international data transfers by cloud service providers.

The EU Parliament will now start negotiations with the Council on the final shape of the legislation. To read the EU Parliament’s press release in full and for a link to the adopted text, click here.