3rd ICAI 2024

International Conference on Automotive Industry 2024

Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic

In-vehicle data as a hot and controversial topic in EU law Václav Šmejkal Škoda Auto University Research Center Na Karmeli 1457, 293 01 Mladá Boleslav, Czechia vaclav.smejkal@savs.cz Abstract The sharing of data generated by increasingly “digitalized” cars has become a hot topic for car manufacturers, maintenance providers and downstream service providers, but of course also for car owners and, last but not least, for regulators. Compliance with existing EU regulations on access to vehicle repair and maintenance information is becoming a matter of contention, while at the same time the entire aftermarket side is criticizing the lack of obligation for manufacturers to open access to in-vehicle data, functions and resources in such a way that sophisticated and innovative service for drivers can be developed. This paper maps the issue through the latest (2023) legislative steps as well as the adopted CJEU decisions. It tries to show the objective complexity of the issue, in which completely conflicting interests of the parties involved clash, complicating and delaying the finding of a satisfactory regulatory-legislative solution. Keywords: data access, data protection, Data Act, European Court of Justice, in 1. Introduction It is not difficult to find on the Internet that even a non-premium brand car today generates up to 25 GB of data per hour of operation (Gooding, 2021), and the most sophisticated “connected” cars packed with sensors are said to generate up to 850 GB per hour (AnM, 2023). The questions of exactly what the data is, what further utility it has, who should have access to it and under what conditions is so controversial and complicated that the European Commission is so far searching in vain for a form of specific regulation. Despite promises still traceable on its website, no legislative proposal for a sector-specific regulation has been tabled in 2023 and, given the expiring terms of the Commission and the European Parliament, this is unlikely to happen in 2024 either (European Commission, 2022–2024). This situation can be explained by the fact that this is a sensitive and, despite the initial impression of a narrow specialty, far-reaching issue. The relatively specialised question of whether and under what conditions, for example, an independent garage or an insurance company or an infotainment provider will have access to data generated by the operation of a car, touches on fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals within the EU, as well as on the protection of competition, the protection of property rights and has far-reaching economic implications, since any regulation has costs for vehicle data, functions and resources JEL Classification: K21, K23, O3

148