Commission improving Europe’s data access will help drive digital age

Today (23 February) the European Commission adopted its Data Act, which seeks to make data more accessible and to make the data markets more open and fair. The Commission wants to enable governments and businesses to take advantage of data that is currently generated but not used. 

“Today is an important step in unlocking a wealth of industrial data in Europe, benefiting businesses, consumers, public services and society as a whole,” Commissioner Thierry Breton said. “So far, only a small part of industrial data is used and the potential for growth and innovation is enormous. The Data Act will ensure that industrial data is shared, stored and processed in full respect of European rules.”

The proposal includes measures to allow consumers to access the data generated by their owned devices, rather than the current model where manufacturers can exclusively access that data. The proposal also would allow consumers to have manufacturers share their data with third parties and change more easily between cloud service providers. 

“We want to give consumers and companies even more control over what can be done with their data, clarifying who can access data and on what terms,” Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager said. 

Additionally, the act would provide a means through which public authorities could ask for access to data from private companies to more effectively respond to an emergency situation. The Act seeks to provide this with minimal burden on businesses, with a provision that businesses would be able to ask for compensation if they provided data at cost. 

The new proposal will work with already existing laws in the area of ePrivacy and data protections. It was also a wider part of Europe’s Digital Agenda. 

The initiative is part of the Commission’s European data strategy, which was announced in February 2020. The data strategy aims to create common European digital spaces, which would give European businesses, governments and individuals access to more data. 

The Act may be followed by more sectoral data proposals, with health, mobility and possibly finance.

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