Consumer use of connected products, from smart vacuum cleaners to connected cars, generates immense amounts of data. Who can access this data and what it can be used for has important implications.  Access to the data, or lack of it, can mean the difference between consumers having to pay more at a car dealership or having the option to go for a third-party repair venue on the corner that is potentially cheaper.

However, without the right protections which need to be added to the Data Act, consumers risk becoming subject to more complex, burdensome and unfair terms in contracts and pushed to grant full access to data generated by some of their devices to countless third parties for opaque purposes.