Fifth compromise text on EU Data Act

The fifth compromise text on the EU Data Act introduces changes related to trade secrets, allowing data controllers to refuse access requests that might lead to economic harm. It also addresses compensation for data disclosures and termination penalties for cloud providers, aiming to regulate industrial data portability and sharing.

The Swedish presidency of the Council of the EU circulated a fifth compromise text on the Data Act, reports Euractiv. One of the changes introduced in the text refers to trade secrets: According to the Data Act, users of connected devices have the right to access the data they contribute to generate, or delegate that right to a third party that might use the data to develop a new service. Because such data sharing obligations raised concerns over the exposure of trade secrets and sensitive commercial information, next text has been introduced that gives the data controller the possibility to refuse an access request if they can demonstrate that the access will likely lead to serious economic damage.

Other changes regard the compensation that would apply for business-to-business data disclosures and the option for cloud providers to include early termination penalties in their contracts.

The Data Act is a flagship legislation for the EU and aims to regulate how industrial data is ported, accessed, and shared.