The Data Act: Empowering Users with Greater Control Over Their Data

The Data Act, scheduled to be applicable from 12 September 2025, aims to facilitate seamless switching between data processing services by setting out the necessary conditions and actions for customers to terminate contracts, port their data, and benefit from functional equivalence. The EU's new regulatory landscape empowers customers by mandating customer-friendly switching and data portability mechanisms, targeting data processing service providers, particularly cloud and infrastructure services, with vendor lock-in dismantling, fostering competition, and users' data control.

Key Takeaways:

• The Data Act applies to providers of data processing services available to customers in the EU, with specific exemptions for non-production services, limited-period services, and tailored services.
• Providers must enable customers to switch between services or migrate to on-premises infrastructure, ensuring they can terminate contracts, conclude new contracts, export data, benefit from functional equivalence, and unbundle basic infrastructure services from other services.
• Mandatory contract clauses include customers' rights to switch or erase their data, provider assistance with exit plans, conditions for contract termination, maximum notice periods, categories of transferrable data, exemptions for trade secrets, data retrieval periods, and full erasure of exportable data.
• Providers must ensure they assist customers in implementing exit plans, assist with switching, and remove all technical, commercial, contractual, or organizational obstacles.
• Transparency and information obligations require providers to inform customers about switching and porting procedures, data structures, and formats, as well as international access and transfers.
• Switching charges and other fees must be limited to direct costs and covered during the transitional period from 11 January 2024 to 12 January 2027.

Statistics:

• Maximum notice period for initiating the switching process: 2 months
• Data retrieval period: at least 30 calendar days after the termination of the transitional period
• Transitional period: from January 11, 2024, to January 12, 2027
• Reduced switching charges: limited to direct costs and covered during the transitional period

Sources:

• The Data Act
• Mondaq Ltd, 2025, "The Data Act: Empowering Users with Greater Control Over Their Data"
• Loyens & Loeff, Brussels, Belgium, "The Data Act and Its Impact on Data Processing Services"