Navigating the maze of EU tech Regulations

Source: The post is based on the article “Navigating the maze of EU tech Regulations” published in “Business Standard” on 3rd July 2023.

Syllabus: GS 2 – International Relations – Effects of policies of developed and developing countries in India

News: The European Union (EU) has agreed on a new Data Act. It became the fifth significant technological legislation in the EU.

This Act aims to regulate how data generated from personal devices and public technology infrastructure should be accessed and handled by companies, both within the EU and worldwide.

What are some salient provisions of the EU’s data act?

The Data Act seeks to prevent Big Tech from collecting personal data of users and treating them as the firms’ personal intellectual property.

It also allows individuals and small businesses to choose who can handle their personal and non-personal data.

An individual can ask a firm to move his or her data to another firm, potentially leading to rival firms gaining trade secrets.

How does it impact India?

India is planning to regulate personal and non-personal data separately. It will be done by defining an umbrella tech regulation and then form multiple sub-regulations for various sectors. This approach is influenced by the overall structure of EU laws.

However, Indian regulations are unlikely to take the as strict an approach as the EU. Instead, the government might take an ex-ante approach. This approach will leave room for future adjustments, in line with how technologies develop.