Sunsetting the Data Sovereignty Now campaign

After two action-packed years, it’s time to sunset the Data Sovereignty Now campaign. Looking back Following the announcement of the EU Data Strategy of 2019, there was a strong need to explore what it would actually mean in practice. This led to the formation of our influential Data Sovereignty Now (DSN) community in September 2020. Each…

European Parliament approves DSA to create a safer digital space with more rights for users 

Digital Services Act

Last week the European Parliament approved the Digital Services Act (DSA), which aims to create a safer digital space where the fundamental rights of users are protected and to establish a level playing field for businesses. We are pleased to see the DSA bringing more transparency and control over data. That is something we have been…

Data Governance Act: Significant step closer to soft infrastructure for data sharing

Two weeks ago, the European Parliament approved new rules governing the exchange of data. These new rules, known as the Data Governance Act (DGA), take us a significant step closer to the development of a ‘soft infrastructure’ for data sharing.  The DGA is a direct result of the European Data Strategy of 2020. The new…

Digital Markets Acts: a promising step towards a more sustainable digital world

Digital Markets Act

On Thursday 24 March 2022, European Parliament and European Council negotiators agreed on how the new Digital Markets Act (DMA) will look. The DMA will focus on limiting the market power of big online platforms and giving consumers more control over their data. Interoperability of messaging apps One of the important innovations of the DMA…

The data act – the proposed data sovereignty law – marks a new phase for the data economy

data sovereignty

We believe that the recently proposed Data Act marks a new phase for the data economy. The Data Act increases access to data for users of connected devices irrespective of whether it is personal data as defined in the GDPR or not. The proposed law would be the first one to fully embrace the principle…

‘Data sovereignty needs to be a horizontal value running through all four dimensions of the EU Digital Compass Communication’

The member organisations of the Data Sovereignty Now coalition have given their input for the Communication “2030 Digital Compass: the European way for the Digital Decade” (Digital Compass Communication) this week. As part of our fundamental human rights, we believe that data sovereignty deserves strong consideration in all assessment of the targets and digital policy.…

WhatsApp illustrates the urgent need for data sovereignty

The recent Terms of Service update by WhatsApp has revealed the true colours of the Facebook-owned messenger service. In effect, it gives the service’s approximately 400 million users in India an ultimatum – they must either agree to share their personal data with the social network or delete their accounts. In other words: accept the spyware or you’re out.…

European adoption track will re-enforce accomplishment of data goals in the Dutch logistics sector

iSHARE has formed a new partnership with FIWARE and FundingBox to form the i4Trust initiative. Together, these three organisations will provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across various sectors and locations in Europe with the tools, coaching, mentoring and financial support needed for the creation of so-called data spaces.  This will facilitate effective, trust-based data…

EU Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act – ‘traffic lights’ are a positive step, but what about the soft infrastructure?

This month, the European Commission (EC) took yet another step in shaping Europe’s digital future. It has announced plans to upgrade the rules governing digital services with two legislative initiatives: the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). This detailed regulation will serve as a kind of “traffic light” system for the…

A step closer to data sovereignty thanks to the Data Governance Act

digital europe

Today the EU Commission published its draft of the Data Governance Act. This piece of regulation is part of the data strategy as published on 19 February. The document includes several essential elements for data sovereignty: Citizens, businesses and public sector bodies should have control over their dataData and data spaces need to become interoperable across sectorsRecognition of…