The Data Act: data sharing done the right way
DOT Europe
The voice of the leading internet companies in Europe, helping to shape the internet economy for the better.
Getting ready for discussions on the Data Act: data sharing done the right way.
Data sharing fosters consumer empowerment, innovation and digital transformation. The proposed Data Act attempts to set some ground rules for making more data available for the benefit of companies, citizens and public but at DOT Europe we’ve noticed that parts of the proposed Data Act might just do the opposite.
· Starting point of the Data Act is digital innovation. DOT Europe supports the Commission’s ambition to make portability and switching easier, but some of the provisions are difficult to implement and risk adversely impacting innovation in the cloud sector: Asking a cloud provider to guarantee functionality on another IT environment over which it has no control is not practically feasible. Functional equivalence as it is defined now could hinder innovation and reduce consumer choice. We feel this should be defined more precisely and narrowly.
· Starting point of the Data Act is making data more accessible for all. However, the restrictions on the ability to transfer non-personal data outside the EU may become an obstacle to using global cloud services. The lack of clarity on its application is such that it might discourage customers from using a global service if they are worried about their own compliance with the Data Act. We recommend further clarification and definition of the scope.
These are just some of the various recommendations we’ve forwarded to the decision makers. Coming autumn will bring about many more discussions on the Data Act, to which we really look forward to contributing. - Siada El Ramly, Director General, DOT Europe
· Starting point of the Data Act is empowering users. However, the current proposal of portability entails a real risk in undermining competition, data protection, intellectual property and privacy, and reducing trust in the data sharing ecosystem. Not to mention the cost of compliance. Empowering users means allowing them to share data with gatekeepers if they choose to. We recommend removing the link to the DMA gatekeeper regime.