Supply Chain Data Sharing: Evaluating Challenges and Opportunities of EU Data Law

Supply Chain Data Sharing: Evaluating Challenges and Opportunities of EU Data Law

After regulating the processing of personal data with the GDPR, the EU is now aiming to govern the emerging data economy. The different acts of this so-called data law shall create a single market for data. To this end, the legislation intends to break up data monopolies and incentivise the sharing of both non-personal and personal data. We argue that the data law will have a major impact on international supply chain data sharing–especially, because this involves complex layers of different stakeholders. Especially the Data Act (DA) will have a significant effect on data sharing. The regulation lays down harmonising rules on how to access and share data generated by products of the“Internet of Things”(IoT), which covers not only smart home devices but also industrial machines connected to the internet. The DA applies to products placed in and data transferred to the EU. It is a horizontal framework which the EU intends to complement with several sector-specific regulations for the creation of so-called“data spaces”. The Commission has recently published a proposal for the first data space–the European Health Data Space (EHDS). Further data spaces shall cover other supply-chain-related areas like manufacturers or mobility. This paper analyses the effects of the European Data Law on supply chain data sharing as one of the most promising scenarios and illustrates both chances and challenges of the regulatory framework. For a comprehensive view, it highlights relevant parts of the new cybersecurity framework for products with digital elements (mainly the Cyber Resilience Act) and their influence on data sharing.