DTI’s vision for the future of EU tech policy

Today, as the dust settles following the European Parliament elections, DTI is sharing a “vision paper” for the next five years of tech policy in the European Union, centered around empowering people through data portability. Long considered a niche issue - labeled in one article as “an obscure data subject right” - data portability has risen to much greater prominence in recent years, including in the Digital Markets Act and the Data Act.

Data portability is a foundational component of the internet today and for the future, and its potential has not nearly been reached. Its impact goes beyond even the contexts of data protection and competition, reaching into online safety and AI governance.

We suggest five priorities for the European Union to make this vision a reality: Implement existing laws effectively; build trust among providers; promote technology neutrality; invest in awareness and engagement; and assess portability in practice, not on paper. The core of these ideas echo in other jurisdictions as well, with variations based on differences in legal frameworks. So while this paper is constructed as a plan for the EU, we will pursue opportunities to advance the ideas in it wherever data portability is on the table.

Take a look and let us know what you think!