The Data Act: Changing the Game
The Data Act redefines how economic actors access, use, and share data from connected products, services, and industrial systems. It is not an isolated technical text: it organizes access rights, imposes portability obligations, regulates contractual relationships, and creates safeguards against imbalances, in coordination with the GDPR and sectoral regulations (notably regarding confidentiality and trade secrets). The aim of this interview is to help professionals turn these obligations into levers for efficiency, transparency, and trust.
Key Obligations and Constraints for Companies
- Data Access and Portability: Make available to users the data generated by products and services, in open, interoperable, and readable formats, with clear deadlines and procedures.
- Sharing with Third Parties: Allow sharing with partners or providers authorized by the user, on a balanced contractual basis, protecting legitimate interests.
- Fair Contractual Clauses: Avoid abusive clauses in B2B data contracts (exclusivities, disproportionate limitations, obstacles to portability).
- Interoperability and Standards: Anticipate technical compatibility requirements between systems, APIs, and data schemas to reduce transfer friction.
- Protection of Legitimate Interests: Implement measures to avoid disclosing sensitive information while respecting access rights.
- Governance and Traceability: Document data flows, purposes, and access, with auditable logs and procedures.
Practical Measures to Implement
To implement the Data Act within an organization, it is essential to first map the data to know its origin, format, holder, and internal or external uses. Then, clear access and sharing policies should be established, specifying who has access to which data, for what purposes, and under what controls. Agreement templates must be updated: general terms and conditions of sale or data use must be enriched with clauses relating to the Data Act, covering access, portability, security, responsibility, and reversibility. These actions have a significant operational component and should also include regular audits and training for the relevant teams (legal, technical, and commercial).
Conclusion: Constraints or Opportunities?
While the Data Act represents an additional administrative burden (data mapping, contract adaptation, technical interoperability, protection of trade secrets, awareness and training), it also brings new opportunities. By promoting data access and portability, it reduces the risk of technological lock-in and thus fosters innovation. Companies that anticipate these obligations and adapt their practices can turn compliance into a competitive advantage: in relation to their clients or partners, they will gain transparency and could position themselves in a more fluid and competitive European data market.
