BRUSSELS – May 2, 2023 – The Global Data Alliance (GDA), a cross-sector coalition of companies committed to high standards of global data transfers, has recommended improvements to the EU Data Act regarding its international non-personal data transfer rules.

GDA members who are active across 15 sectors in over 150 countries, including Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Sweden, and Switzerland, as well as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Korea, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States – together employ millions of citizens across the EU in digitally intensive industries.

In a white paper released today, the GDA says clarifying several ambiguities in Article 27 of the Data Act is critical to achieving the EU’s goal of enhancing data sharing and use across the bloc and beyond. If policymakers do not resolve these issues, the risk is that judicial or other authorities may mandate non-personal data localization, frustrating, in turn, Europe’s digital transformation goals.

Hadrien Valembois, Senior Manager, Policy – EMEA at BSA | The Software Alliance, which administers the GDA, said:

The GDA has raised four concerns regarding Article 27 of the EU Data Act. Specifically, we are concerned about the unexamined impacts of non-personal data transfer restrictions and localization requirements; the potential inconsistency with the EU’s international commitments; the failure to justify treating non-personal data as sensitive in the same way as personal data; and a lack of clarity around rules for businesses. We are asking EU policymakers to clarify these ambiguities during upcoming trilogue negotiations to make sure the Data Act enables the responsible free flow of data and minimizes – if not eliminates – data transfer restrictions that may break EU legal obligations.

Read the GDA’s full set of concerns and recommendations on the EU Data Act here.