Recital 24

Before concluding a contract for the purchase, rent, or lease of a connected product, the seller, rentor or lessor, which may be the manufacturer, should provide to the user information regarding the product data which the connected product is capable of generating, including the type, format and the estimated volume of such data, in a clear and comprehensible manner. This could include information on data structures, data formats, vocabularies, classification schemes, taxonomies and code lists, where available, as well as clear and sufficient information relevant for the exercise of the user’s rights on how the data may be stored, retrieved or accessed, including the terms of use and quality of service of application programming interfaces or, where applicable, the provision of software development kits. That obligation provides transparency over the product data generated and enhances easy access for the user. The information obligation could be fulfilled, for example by maintaining a stable uniform resource locator (URL) on the web, which can be distributed as a web link or QR code, pointing to the relevant information, which could be provided by the seller, rentor or lessor, which may be the manufacturer, to the user before concluding the contract for the purchase, rent or lease of a connected product. It is, in any case, necessary that the user is able to store the information in a way that is accessible for future reference and that allows the unchanged reproduction of the information stored. The data holder cannot be expected to store the data indefinitely in view of the needs of the user of the connected product, but should implement a reasonable data retention policy, where applicable, in line with storage limitation principle pursuant Article 5(1), point (e), of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, that allows for the effective application of the data access rights provided for in this Regulation. The obligation to provide information does not affect the obligation of the controller to provide information to the data subject pursuant to Articles 12, 13 and 14 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679. The obligation to provide information before concluding a contract for the provision of a related service should lie with the prospective data holder, independently of whether the data holder concludes a contract for the purchase, rent or lease of a connected product. Where information changes during the lifetime of the connected product or the contract period for the related service, including where the purpose for which those data are to be used changes from the originally specified purpose, it should also be provided to the user.