The European Commission published a newly proposed regulation for data access and reuse, aimed at facilitating free access to digital data by businesses, academic institutions, public administration, consumers, and other stakeholders. The proposed regulation does not aim to govern personal data, but rather technical data.

Among other issues, the proposed regulation intends to enable consumers to freely access and use data generated by Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, ensure fairness in data sharing contracts, prevent unfair misuses of the imbalanced bargaining power relating to such contracts, and facilitate the use of such data where necessary to respond to public emergencies. In addition, the new regulation also aims to assist consumers desiring to transition between competing data processing service providers and lay down safeguards against undesirable transfers of data outside the EU.