Who gets access to the data collected by smart devices? In the Internet of Things, this question is giving rise to new commercial battles: only those who have access to data will be able to provide economic services in the future. The European Union wants to provide clarity with the Data Act. For craftsmen and service providers, the access issues are existential: If they are cut off from data access, they will no longer be able to provide services to their customers in downstream markets – for repair and maintenance, for example.
In this study, Rupprecht Podszun, professor in Düsseldorf and expert on the law of the digital economy, calls for a competition-oriented design of the EU Data Act with numerous concrete proposals.