On 23 February 2022, the European Commission introduced the "Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on harmonized rules on fair access to and use of data (EU Data Act)", as part of the EU Strategy for Data. The Act provides a framework for the accessing and sharing of data. Specifically, the Act set out under which circumstances data may be used to produce value, with a focus on data access rights. The Act attempts to maintain uniformity across data access rights, which are frequently designed for unique situations and come with different norms and restrictions. While existing data access duties are unaffected by the Data Act, any future rules must comply with it. When existing rules are reviewed, they should be evaluated and, if necessary, harmonized with the Data Act. Furthermore, the Act includes mandatory measures for firms using non-personal data. Such "data holders", would be required to provide consumers with easy, fast, and free access to the data they contributed to producing. Users may choose to share their information with permitted third parties. These data sharing requirements do not apply to SME however. On the other hand, gatekeepers will be subjected to more specific restrictions. Finally, the Act aims to establish standards for the use of data generated by the Internet of Things (IoT) devices, in order to ensure fairness and review parts of the Database Directive's provisions. It clarifies the role of the sui generis database right (i.e., the right to safeguard the content of specific databases) and how it applies to databases created or accessed by IoT devices.
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