It is a treasure, its size is growing, and it is largely untapped: more and more factory robots and combine harvesters, cars and dishwashers are equipped with sensors that constantly collect data. Many of these devices are also networked, so they can send and receive data. Anyone who collects and evaluates the data from this so-called Internet of Things can develop new business models from it. For example, the data could be used to more accurately predict when a device will cause problems and offer cheap maintenance. Or one could give the farmer data-based advice on how to optimize sowing and harvesting.
But so far “only a small part” of such data has been used, “and the potential for growth and innovation is enormous,” said EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton on Wednesday in Brussels. The French put the there Draft data law that should remedy the situation. The regulation makes it clear that the buyer of a device, be it the dishwasher or the robot, has the right to use the data that the machine generates. That is not a matter of course. So far, the producers have often wanted to keep the treasure to themselves – but according to the Commission, this means that the data is not used properly.
The EU law, which the European Parliament and Council of Ministers now have to deal with as a body of member states, allows buyers to share their device’s data with third parties: for example with software start-ups that specialize in data from certain devices Evaluate machines and then give advice on how to use them better. Or with a repair service for the defective dishwasher, whose work is made easier if he can read out the data from the kitchen helper. For the manufacturer, this means more competition in the market for maintenance and repairs.
The Data Act is an important supplement to the Data Governance Act, which the EU Parliament and the Council of Ministers have already passed. The Governance Act establishes rules for easily sharing and aggregating data without citizens fearing for their privacy. The Data Act now answers the crucial question of who may evaluate the data and under what conditions. Commissioner Breton hopes that these laws will promote the digital economy in the EU and catch up with those US corporations that have become rich and powerful by evaluating user data, such as Google, Meta and Amazon.
Manufacturers are not allowed to evaluate data automatically
The commission wants with one Digital Markets Act, abbreviated DMA, to tighten the competition law for such powerful online platforms. At the same time, the data law now expressly stipulates that the corporations that fall under the DMA, such as Google and Amazon, should not benefit from the new great freedom in data. According to the Commission, the data law should not lead to Europe’s consumers now also entrusting Google with the data from their dishwashers and their cars. However, Frederic Geber, a regulatory expert in the Düsseldorf office of the law firm Hengeler Mueller, says that this ban “could be unconstitutional: the Commission does not convincingly justify this restriction, it seems protectionist”.
Geber also complains that manufacturers have to share data, but “conversely do not automatically have the right to evaluate the data from the devices they sell”. According to the draft law, you would have to contractually agree this with the users. “I think that’s a shame, because it could slow down existing industry initiatives to develop their own business models, for example for maintenance,” says the lawyer.
“Well meant but not well done”
Iris Plöger from the German industry association BDI even warns that the “data access and data sharing obligations” would “impair the attractiveness of the location”. Angelika Niebler, co-chair of the CDU/CSU group in the European Parliament, fears that the contracts between consumers and companies for data sharing will become too complex: “We have to make sure that there are no complicated clauses that users can’t just see through it.”
The FDP MEP Nicola Beer calls the EU law “well intentioned, but not yet done well in the current proposal”. For example, manufacturers should have better guarantees to protect their trade secrets when sharing data from their devices. The SPD MEP Tiemo Wölken speaks of “a tightrope act” because fair conditions for the sharing of data are necessary, but at the same time the data must be protected against misuse.