Employment Rights Act 2025 — Further Provisions Active
Form 1099-K & Payment App Income Check
Why this matters.
The EU Data Act, Regulation (EU) 2023/2854, has applied since 12 September 2025 and creates new rules on who can access and use data generated by connected products and related services, and on switching between cloud and other data processing services. Manufacturers and sellers of connected products, such as smart devices, vehicles and industrial machinery, must give users access to the data their use generates (Articles 4 and 5) and tell them before purchase what data is collected (Article 3(2)). For connected products placed on the market from 12 September 2026, Article 3(1) requires them to be designed so that this data is directly accessible to the user by default. Article 13 also makes unfair data-sharing terms imposed on another business unenforceable.
Cloud, SaaS, PaaS and IaaS providers face separate switching duties under Chapter VI. Contracts must let customers switch provider or move on-premises with no more than two months’ notice and a standard 30-day transition period (Article 25), providers must remove obstacles to switching (Article 23), and from 12 January 2027 Article 29 bans switching charges altogether, including data egress fees for switching. Micro and small enterprises are exempt from the Chapter II data-sharing obligations in some cases (Article 7), but not from the cloud switching rules when they provide data processing services. Each member state sets its own penalties under Article 40, which must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive, and breaches involving personal data can also be fined under the GDPR.
