Data – Photo © Anterovium – Fotolia
(STRASBOURG) – The EU Parliament gave its approval Tuesday to the Data Act, which clarifies who can access data and on what terms, and empowers a wider range of private and public entities to share data.
A key aim of the Data Act is to boost innovation by removing barriers obstructing access by consumers and businesses to data. The draft legislation would contribute to the development of new services, in particular in artificial intelligence where huge amounts of data are needed for algorithm training. It can also lead to better prices for after-sales services and repairs of connected devices.
The volume of data generated by humans and machines is increasing exponentially and becoming a critical factor for innovation by businesses and by public authorities (e.g. shaping of smart cities). This kind of data is said to have become “the new oil”.
The data act establishes common rules governing the sharing of data generated by the use of connected products or related services (e.g. the internet of things, industrial machines) to ensure fairness in data sharing contracts.
MEPs adopted measures to allow users access to the data they generate, as 80% of industrial data collected are never used, according to the European Commission. They also want to ensure contractual agreements are at the centre of business-to-business relationships.
Companies would be able decide what data can be shared, and the manufacturer could choose not to make certain data available “by design”. When companies draft their data-sharing contracts, the law will rebalance the negotiation power in favour of SMEs, by shielding them from unfair contractual terms imposed by companies in a significantly stronger bargaining position.
The text also defines how public sector bodies can access and use data held by the private sector that are necessary in exceptional circumstances or emergencies, such as floods and wildfires.
MEPs also 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 transfer by cloud service providers.
Following adoption, MEPs are now ready to enter into negotiations with the Council on the final shape of the law.
Further information, European Parliament
