EU Data Act & Data Monetization: Why Raw Data Access must be free and which Business Opportunities Emerge nonetheless
The recurring misunderstanding: "We can charge for data access under the EU Data Act"
Over the past months, I have repeatedly heard the same statement in conversations with manufacturers, platform providers, and even advisors:
"We can charge businesses for data access under the EU Data Act."
Often, this claim is backed up by a reference to Recital 46 of the EU Data Act. At first glance, this seems plausible. But it is also one of the most persistent and consequential misunderstandings around Data Act data access and data act monetization.
This article explains where the confusion comes from, why it matters, and how companies should rethink their monetization strategies in light of the EU Data Act.
What Recital 46 actually says and why it is misleading when read in isolation
Recital 46 states, among other things, that:
In business-to-business relations, data holders may request reasonable compensation when obliged to make data available to a data recipient.
This single sentence is often interpreted as a general permission to charge for data access under the EU Data Act, including towards business users of connected products.
That interpretation is incorrect.
The key to understanding Recital 46 lies in one specific legal term: data recipient.
"Data recipient" does not mean "user" under the EU Data Act
Under the EU Data Act, the terms user and data recipient are clearly defined and deliberately separated. They are not interchangeable.
A user is the natural or legal person that owns, rents, or leases a connected product or receives a related service.
A data recipient, by contrast, is a third party to whom data is made available at the request of the user.
This distinction is foundational for understanding Data Act data access obligations.
Articles 3 and 4: Data access for users must be free of charge
Articles 3 and 4 of the EU Data Act are explicit and unambiguous.
They require that users of connected products and related services are granted access to the data generated by those products and services free of charge.
This applies regardless of whether the user is:
- a consumer (B2C), or
- a business customer (B2B).
The EU Data Act does not distinguish between consumer users and business users when it comes to the principle of free data access.
If a company is the user of a connected product, it has a statutory right to access its data without being charged for that access.
This is precisely why Recital 46 cannot be used to justify charging users for data access.
So when can money be charged under the EU Data Act?
Charging becomes possible only in a very specific scenario:
When data is transferred to a third party, acting as a data recipient, and only at the explicit request of the user.
Even then, the compensation must be:
- reasonable,
- cost-oriented,
- and non-discriminatory.
In other words, the EU Data Act allows cost recovery and modest margins for third-party data transfers. It does not allow monetizing user access to raw product data.
Is this unfair to manufacturers who invested in IoT infrastructure?
This question comes up frequently as well.
Manufacturers argue that they invested heavily in sensors, connectivity, cloud infrastructure, data pipelines, and APIs. From that perspective, free data access can feel like a forced giveaway. And this perspective is very much valid, in my opinion
However, the European Union prioritizes its strategic bet on a data economy. While I see the downside for manufacturers, I would like to advocate for making the best out of this scenario. In fact, the introduction, or rather, the adoption of the EU Data Act by both manufacturers and users could very well be a door-opener for real data monetization opportunities. But let's first analyze what data a manufacturer or data holder can actually charge for.
What can be monetized: enriched, processed, and value-added data
The EU Data Act focuses on access to raw and directly generated data.
It does not prohibit monetization of:
- enriched data,
- aggregated datasets,
- predictive insights,
- benchmarks,
- analytics results,
- AI-based recommendations,
- or domain-specific optimizations.
These value-added outputs are not the same as the raw data a user is entitled to access for free.
This distinction opens the door to sustainable data act monetization strategies. Strategies which in many cases have not been implemented due to manufacturers being too hesitant to think in data ecosystems rather than their vertically integrated applications. APIs have not been productized and cannot be exposed to public audiences easily. Pricing models around data access are prohibitively expensive or lacking in flexbility, therefore prevening user adoption.
A pragmatic monetization strategy under the EU Data Act
A robust approach for many companies will look familiar from SaaS and platform economics.
One effective pattern is a freemium-style model and the EU Data Act enforces exactly that:
- Provide free, compliant data access via a Data Act API to users.
- Use the same technical infrastructure to offer additional, enriched data products.
- Charge for advanced insights, automation, forecasting, optimization, and integrations.
- But do it on a consumption-based model
In this model, the EU Data Act functions as a facilitator for a distribution channel rather than a threat.
It forces companies to expose data access, but it also dramatically lowers the friction for building data-driven services on top of that access. Consuption-based models are key, because the value of data is vastly depending on the respective use case. A flat-rate pricing usually is not satisfactory for the business case of the manufacturer or respectively the user.
The EU Data Act as a catalyst for data monetization maturity
Ironically, the obligation to provide free data access may accelerate data monetization rather than hinder it.
Companies that previously struggled to justify investments into data platforms now have a regulatory reason to build them. Once the infrastructure exists, extending it towards monetizable offerings is much more straight forward.
Seen this way, the EU Data Act creates a unique opportunity:
- to standardize data access,
- to professionalize data products,
- and to transition from hardware-centric to data-augmented business models.
Conclusion
The EU Data Act does not allow charging users for access to their own product data. Articles 3 and 4 make this clear, and Recital 46 does not change that reality.
However, the regulation reshapes the data monetization environment.
Companies that focus on enriched data, insights and value-added services can turn Data Act compliance into a strategic advantage.
The winners will be those who embrace data access with user-friendly and cost-effective data provisioning infrastructure which allows for a robust data up-sell channel.