European Council Adopts the Data Act

The new EU “Data Act” perhaps should be more properly referred to as the “It’s My Data and I’ll Do What I Want With It” act, as it provides some pretty broad usage rights to consumers who use connected devices. 

While it doesn’t necessarily describe “ownership” (whatever that really means when it comes to data that can be copied and used anyway), it provides consumers access to data that was previously only accessible by the vendors of products and services and allows those consumers to port their information to other vendors. This is particularly interesting in the context of IoT/connected devices – where a consumer can now easily port information (say from a connected coffee maker) on usage and other preferences (like how often they need a special blend of coffee beans) to another vendor’s products and services. This not only minimizes previous barriers to switching vendors (so-called “stickiness” of customers), but also may allow consumers to potentially monetize the data collected about their use of connected products and services. 

It will be interesting to see what the impacts of this new law will be throughout Europe and if we ever get similar laws in the United States. 

To make the EU a leader in our data-driven society, the Council adopted a new Regulation on harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data (Data Act). The data act puts obligations on manufacturers and service providers to let their users, be they companies or individuals, access and reuse the data generated by the use of their products or services, from coffee machines to wind turbines. It also allows users to share that data with third parties – for example, car owners could choose in the future to share certain vehicle data with a mechanic or their insurance company.

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