Who is the data holder and who is the user under the Data Act?
Adopted 2026-06-14 · ≈ 1 min read · 
edited by Dirk Baaijen
The user is the owner, renter or lessee of a connected product; the data holder is the party that has access to the data from that product and the related service. What this distinction means for transport and logistics.
Short answer: The user is the owner, renter or lessee of a connected product; the data holder is the party that has the data from that product and the related service and can actually share it.
The Data Act (Regulation (EU) 2023/2854) has applied since 12 September 2025 and governs access to and sharing of data from connected products and related services. The whole system turns on two roles. Which role you hold determines who may request something and who must deliver it.
The user
The user is the party that uses the product: the owner, the renter or the lessee. In transport and logistics this is, for example, the transport operator that owns or leases a truck, trailer or machine. The user has the right to access the data the product generates and may request that this data be shared with a third party of their choice.
The data holder
The data holder is the party that has the product data and the related-service data and can make it available — often the manufacturer or the provider of the telematics or cloud service. On request, the data holder must make the data available on FRAND terms (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory). There is also a ban on unfair contractual terms, and cloud switching must be made easier.
Why the distinction matters
The role determines your rights and obligations. Are you requesting data as a user, or must you deliver it as a data holder? One party can hold both roles. In addition, from 12 September 2026 a design obligation applies to new products: they must be designed so the data is accessible. Where the data contains personal data, the GDPR applies alongside the Data Act.
Read the main file: The Data Act for transport and logistics. Or take the Transport & Logistics scan.
Sources
- https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/2854/oj
Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (Data Act); applicable since 12 September 2025.
Read next
Data Act and leased vehicles: who is the "user" of the data?
Under the Data Act, the user is whoever owns, rents or leases the connected product. For a leased vehicle this is typically the lessee who actually uses the vehicle, not the leasing company.
Data Act: must I share data with third parties, and how?
At the user's request, the data holder must make data available to a third party of choice — in a common, machine-readable format and on fair (FRAND) terms. What that means and how to set yourself up for it in transport and logistics.
What do I risk for non-compliance with the Data Act?
The Data Act applies since 12 Sep 2025. Non-compliance risks civil claims, contract terms that are not binding, and GDPR enforcement where personal data is involved. From 12 Sep 2026 the design obligation applies.