17. How can I, as a user, access my data?

Article 3(2) and 3(3) of the Data Act oblige sellers, rentors, lessors, or prospective providers of related services, as the case may be, to provide users with information on the data that their connected product or related service generates. This is known as the ‘transparency obligation’. As part of the transparency obligation, users must be informed about how to access the generated data. Data can be made available ‘directly’ (Article 3(1)) or ‘indirectly’ (Article 4(1)). Different configurations are possible (for instance, part of the data could be made available directly, and the rest could be made available indirectly).

Direct access means that the user has the technical means to access, stream or download the data in question without having to request the data holder to do so. For instance, a connected product has a digital interface where the user has control over the access mechanism, controlling the interface and workflows, and where the user can directly extract data from the connected product.

Indirect access means that the connected product or related service is designed in such a way that the user is required to ask the data holder for access (i.e. an approval process). An example would be a web portal where the user can submit a request to access data. Article 3 of the Data Act leaves some flexibility (‘where relevant and technically feasible’) to a manufacturer to decide whether or not to design for direct access. This is because not all products (and not all data) are designed in such a way as to make data directly accessible to users. There may be situations where data holders prefer to offer indirect access to the data. The Data Act incentivises data holders to put in place solutions that work best for them when they have to comply with the obligation of making data available to the user.