The broadening of the right to data portability for Internet-of-Things products in the Data Act: who does the act actually empower? (Part I)

In its European strategy for data, the European Commission strives for the empowerment of individuals in exercising their data subject’s rights. Particularly the right to data portability is said to offer great potential for increasing the availability of data by fostering new data flows. The recently released legislative proposals, i.e. the Data Act, the Data Governance Act, and the European Health Data Space Regulation, seem to promote an ‘enhanced’ right to data portability as a central tool for empowerment. Part I of this blog post will explore the novelties arising from the broadening of the right to data portability laid down in these frameworks. Part II will elaborate on selected legal challenges that stem from this broadening under the Data Act. The text builds upon the discussion about Chapter II of the Data Act, also part of the Data Act Blog Post Series.