Draft EU’s Data Governance Act reveals plan to restrict third countries from accessing EU data

According to Politico, the draft version of an upcoming European Commission legislative proposal, the Data Governance Act, signals the plan of the EU executive to restrict third countries from accessing EU data. The aim of the Data Governance Act, to be published by the end of the year, is to create an infrastructure for data sharing among EU countries, while restricting data sharing for businesses outside the European bloc. European Commissioner Thierry Breton said: “Shielding our industrial data is not about where the data is localized. It is about making sure that — just as we do for personal data and confirmed by the Court of Justice of the European Union — we have a number of guarantees. Companies will have to organize themselves accordingly.” Politico also reports that this proposal may violate World Trade Organization rules.