EU Data Act
In shortYour machine data belongs to you, and switching clouds may barely cost anything.
At a glance
- Instrument
- Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, in force since January 2024, applicable since 12 September 2025
- Two main parts
- Access to connected-product data (Chapter II) and switching between data processing services (Chapter VI)
- Switching charges
- Since September 2025 only costs actually incurred; from 12 January 2027 none at all
- Deadlines
- Notice period at most two months, transition window generally 30 days, extendable where technically necessary
- Design obligation
- For connected products placed on the market after 12 September 2026
- Who benefits
- Any company with machines, vehicles, devices or cloud contracts — regardless of size
The Data Act is the most effective instrument European companies have ever been given in this area — and the least used. In contract conversations it almost never comes from the provider's side of the table, not even where it would save money immediately.
It consists of two parts that are rarely thought about together.
Part one: data from connected products
Anyone using a machine, a vehicle or a device is entitled to the data generated in use — and to have it passed to a third party, for instance an independent maintenance firm rather than the manufacturer.
For manufacturers this is bigger news than any cloud debate. Operating data, running times, fault patterns and wear curves decide whether maintenance can be planned and offers compared.
From 12 September 2026 a design obligation applies to newly placed products: the data must be accessible by default, easily, securely, in machine-readable form and, where technically feasible, directly.
Part two: switching between data processing services
Chapter VI removes four obstacles that have wrecked cloud migrations until now.
Switching charges may, since September 2025, cover only costs actually incurred, and disappear entirely from 12 January 2027. The egress fees that used to push an export into five figures are therefore finished as an argument.
Notice periods may not exceed two months. The transition itself has defined windows, extendable where the technology genuinely requires it.
Providers must assist with the switch and supply data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.
And they may not obstruct the process by technical or organisational means.
What this changes in practice
The contractual layer of Vendor lock-in has become considerably weaker. The format, process and knowledge layers the law left untouched — and in practice those account for the larger share of switching cost.
The Data Act therefore does not replace an Exit strategy; it makes one cheaper. Anyone planning an exit rehearsal today can rely on it when a provider stalls.
What to do
Check, for your three most important contracts, whether notice period, exit charge and export arrangements still follow the old practice. Where they do, the clause is unenforceable to that extent — and the next renewal is the moment to correct it.
And take the next machine purchase as the occasion to settle data access contractually, rather than demanding it later.
Common questions
- Does the Data Act cover machines already installed?
- The access right does. The design obligation applies only to products newly placed on the market after 12 September 2026. For the existing estate that means you can demand data but may have to live with access being inconvenient.
- What does it mean for cloud contracts already running?
- Clauses conflicting with Chapter VI are unenforceable to that extent. In practice: exit charges, excessive notice periods and a refusal to assist with a switch can be challenged by reference to the regulation.
- Must the provider help technically with a migration?
- Yes. Chapter VI obliges providers to support the switch, to supply data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and not to obstruct the process.
- What belongs in the next machine purchase contract?
- A concrete list of the data generated, continuous access in a common format without extra charge for the standard case, and express permission to pass data to a third party of your choosing.