The clock is ticking - the EU Data Act is in force

The EU Data Act (REGULATION (EU) 2023/2854) came into force on January 11^th, 2024. Therefore, the clock is ticking for manufacturers of connected products and providers of connected services in particular to implement the new requirements regarding fair data access and fair data use.

The Data Act will become applicable after 20 months, i.e. in September 2025. A slightly longer implementation period of 32 months applies to individual requirements. The Data Act applies directly as a regulation in all EU member states. Member States do not need to implement the Data Act into national law.

The Data Act is intended to remove legal, economic and technical barriers to the data economy as far as possible.

In order to achieve this goal, the Data Act creates a data access right, for example: users of networked products and connected services must be granted access to the data that is generated when they use the product or service. This applies to connected consumer products, such as wearables or smart home devices, as well as purely commercially used products and services, from connected agricultural machinery to IoT industrial equipment. A claim regarding data access is directed against the “data owner”, i.e. the manufacturer of the connected product or provider of the connected service.

In addition, the Data Act introduces a data portability right for users, obliges product manufacturers and service providers to provide information about the data generated when using the products and services and contains content requirements for data licensing contracts, similar to the law on general terms and conditions. We have summarized the details of the Data Act as an overview here.

The Data Act itself does not initially differentiate between personal and non-personal data for data-related claims and obligations. However, the provisions of the GDPR are also applicable to the disclosure and use of personal data. In addition, trade secrets of manufacturers and providers, for example, are excluded from the user's right to data access.

In our Digital Bites webinar on March 19, 2024, we will explain the scope of application of the Data Act and the specific need for action for affected product manufacturers and service providers. Registration details will follow shortly.