What Is The Data Governance Act Of Europe?

Europe has been at the forefront of development in multiple domains, and quite recently, some technical developments have come to light. These technological developments involve the statutes implemented on GDPR laws which govern data privacy laws in European countries and European economic areas.

Recently, a Data Governance Act (DGA) has been proposed, which focuses on increasing the governance structure for the single market and creating a framework to make general and sector-specific data sharing more accessible; the Data Act’s focus is on the real rights of data access and use. The DGA is going to come into effect on September 24, 2023. As of now, it has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union on June 3, 2022.

The act will be implemented for better regulation of data of the public and businesses. Data from the public sector will be shared with private enterprises, according to the DGA. These are a few examples of trade secrets, personal information, and data covered by intellectual property rights. The 2019 Open Data Directive, which excludes some data, will be complemented this way by the DGA.

The DGA introduces some novel ideas, including “data altruism” (you can donate your data for the greater good, such as for climate change or medical research projects), “data intermediation services,” which enable businesses to share big data that is both personal and non-personal, and “personal data spaces,” which allow people to maintain an electronic wallet containing their personal information.

More significantly, the DGA will establish a data transfer system for non-personal data transfers, comparable to the General Data Protection Regulation, for businesses with headquarters in the US and other nations outside the European Economic Area (EEA) (GDPR). In other words, non-personal data may only depart the EEA in specific circumstances (like standard contract clauses that will be created for this purpose).

In today’s digital world, where everything is online, be it watching Netflix in the comfort of your home, educational events, musical concerts, creating your own website, or establishing your business or start-up, everything requires a lot of data procuration. The digital ecosystem requires well-structured data regulation and protection so that people’s critical information is not misused, thereby jeopardizing the public and businesses’ hard work and personal information.

In order to maximize the potential of data for European consumers and businesses, the project intends to increase the amount of data available and promote data sharing across industries and EU member states.

 

WHAT DOES THE DGA INCLUDE? 

 

• DATA SHARING FROM THE PUBLIC SECTOR

 

By permitting public sector data to be used for reasons other than those for which it was initially acquired, the Data Governance Act plan seeks to enhance the amount of data available for reusing inside the EU. The Act explicitly targets specific data types, such as GPS or healthcare data, which, if used effectively, could raise the calibre of services. The Commission projects that implementing the suggested steps might boost the economic worth of data by up to €11 billion by 2028, and the Commission notes that the obtained data could be utilized again for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

 

The development of new goods and services will be made possible by effective data management and exchange, improving the sustainability and efficiency of many economic sectors. Additionally, it is necessary for teaching AI systems. The public sector can create better policies with more data available, resulting in a more transparent government and effective public services.

 

Data-driven innovation will help both businesses and people by improving the productivity of lives and work through:

 

• Health Information: Improving individualized treatments, providing better healthcare, and assisting in treating rare or chronic diseases, saving the EU health sector some €120 billion yearly and enabling a more effective and prompt response to the global COVID-19 health problem.

 

• Mobility Information: Real-time navigation helps drivers cut labor costs by up to 20 billion euros annually and more than 27 million hours annually for those who utilize public transportation;

 

• Environmental Information: halting climate change, cutting CO2 emissions, and responding to disasters like floods and wildfires;

 

• Agriculture Data: Expanding rural communities access to new services, new agri-food products, and precision farming;

 

• Public Administration Data: Providing better, more reliable official statistics and assisting in making decisions based on solid facts. 

 

 

• SERVICES FOR DATA INTERMEDIATION

 

Data intermediation services, which attempt to provide a trusted environment for 

organizations and individuals to share data, are a crucial idea in the DGA. The benefits of data intermediation include:

 

• Encourage corporate data exchange that is voluntary.

 

• Assist in the legal requirements for data sharing being met.

 

• Organizations share data without worrying that it will be abused or that they will lose a competitive edge.

 

• Give people the ability to take back control of their data, share it with reputable businesses, and exercise their GDPR rights.

 

Data intermediation service providers will be authorized to charge a price for their services, according to the DGA, but they will not be allowed to make money off the data they handle, such as by selling it.

 

• DATA SATCHELS

 

New data management solutions, such as data wallets or spaces—basically, apps that share data with a data subject’s consent—are introduced by the DGA. Through the use of such tools, individuals will have complete control over how their data is shared, enabling them to share that data with organizations they trust.

 

• DATA BENEVOLENCE

 

The DGA describes the idea of data altruism, which is the voluntary disclosure of data by people or businesses for the benefit of everybody (such as medical research projects). The DGA creates the option for organizations engaging in data altruism to register as a “data altruism organization recognized in the European Union” to increase trust in the concept and encourage people and businesses to donate data to such organizations used for the greater good of society. 

 

• SECURITY MEASURES FOR NON-PERSONAL DATA TRANSFER

 

The DGA understands the significance of preventing unauthorized access to commercially sensitive non-personal data that could result in IP theft or industrial espionage (such as trade secrets or non-personal data that represents content protected by the intellectual property). The DGA states that non-personal data held by public-sector organizations that must be protected from unauthorized or unlawful access should only be transferred to third countries where suitable safeguards for their use have been provided. This is done to ensure the protection of such non-personal data as well as the fundamental rights and interests of the owners of such data.

 

In order to transfer non-personal data covered by the DGA, the European Commission (EC) may issue adequacy decisions or standard contractual terms.

 

• BOARD OF EUROPEAN DATA INNOVATION

 

The European Data Innovation Board was established by the DGA and is composed of representatives of all member states’ competent authorities, the European Data Protection Board, the European Commission, and other pertinent representatives of 

competent authorities in particular industries. Its responsibilities include, among other responsibilities.

 

The other functions include:

 

• Advising and helping the EC create a standard procedure for how public-sector and competent bodies handle requests for data reuse.
• Based on current European, international, and national standards to assist the EC in improving the interoperability of data and data sharing services between various industries and domains.
• Advising and supporting the EC in the creation of a standardized procedure for applying the requirements applicable to data sharing providers by the competent authorities.

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

After implementing such statutes pertaining to data privacy rules and regulations, Europe will impact data privacy governance in other countries. Businesses will gain from decreased data costs and lowered market entry barriers thanks to new data sharing regulations, enabling them to launch their goods more quickly. The regulation will impact businesses outside the European Union and provide the public with various options for protecting and circulating their data in a regulated way. Take the first step towards a secure your organization’s data by scheduling a call with our privacy expert team at Tsaaro Solutions today.