The EU has reached an agreement giving users greater access to their data and control over how the digital information is used by companies.
Brussels has already set global standards for personal data protection and privacy and started building a legal framework to deal with the power of technology companies.
Negotiators from the European Council, which represents the 27 member states, and the European Parliament struck a deal late on Tuesday on the data act, first proposed by the bloc's executive arm on 23 February 2022.
🚨Negotiation breakthrough on game-changing data law!
— EPP Group (@EPPGroup) June 27, 2023
Negotiators from the European Parliament and Member States just agreed on the EU's #DataAct. The new rules concern connected machines and appliances which collect enormous amounts of data.
Read @delcastillop’s view⬇️
With the increased use of internet-connected products, there has been an explosion in data availability and the EU says it wants European citizens to take back control from companies.
Unlawful data
Under the law, data sharing should be made easier between customers and companies, as well as with other firms. Previously, people's data has remained in the hands of businesses with little chance of users gaining access.
The new rules also include safeguards against unlawful data transfer by cloud service providers and make it easier to switch providers of data processing services, the council said in a statement.
"Once the data act enters into force, it will unlock the economic and societal potential of data and technologies and contribute to an internal market for data," said Sweden's minister for public administration Erik Slottner.
The EU's internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, hailed the "milestone" agreement "reshaping the digital space".
He added on Twitter that the bloc was on the path to "a thriving data economy that is innovative and open – on our conditions".
Another deal! 👍👍
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) June 27, 2023
⁰Tonight’s agreement on the #DataAct is a milestone in reshaping the digital space.
Thanks to the swift work of the EP @delcastillop & the 🇸🇪 Council Presidency, we are on the way of a thriving 🇪🇺 data economy that is innovative & open — on our conditions. pic.twitter.com/vTWUU8xTx9
The new data law was not welcomed by all, especially by the technology industry, while one consumer organisation described it as a "missed opportunity".
The Computer &andCommunications Industry Association (CCIA), a big tech lobby, warned the law "risks hampering data-driven innovation" and would "limit consumer choice".
Alexandre Roure, public policy director for CCIA Europe, said the EU's aim to encourage "data value creation can only be commended".
But he said the law was not "enough to enable responsible data sharing by companies, nor does it leave users free to decide how they want to use their exported data".
European Consumer Organisation deputy director general Ursula Pachl said the EU gave "too much flexibility to companies who can now prevent consumers from sharing data with other service providers on the basis it constitutes a trade secret".
The data law will come into force from 2025 onwards.
The EU is also preparing the world's first comprehensive law to regulate artificial intelligence, and aims to approve the legislation by the end of the year.
(with newswires)
