EU Data Act (for software buyers)
The EU Data Act is the European regulation, applicable since 12 September 2025, that creates switching and portability obligations for covered data-processing services. From 12 January 2027, providers may not charge for the switching operations covered by the regulation. It converts part of vendor lock-in from a commercial fact into a regulated one — within the regulation's scope.
Why it matters
A dealer signing a multi-year software contract now has legal ground under exit questions that used to be a negotiation courtesy. The scope has edges worth knowing: migration work, additional services beyond the provider's obligations, and permitted early-termination penalties may still carry costs, some data may fall outside the exportable categories, and the buyer's own re-integration effort is not the provider's problem.
Common confusion
The legal right to switch does not perform the migration. Extraction, validation, re-integration, and the process change inside the company remain the buyer's work whatever the law says about the fees — which is why the exit clause belongs in the contract, not in the statute's shadow.
Sources
Where we use it
The exit clause and the one-week-removal question in What to check before you sign, alongside deletability as the design property that makes the right usable.