- Oil giant BP reports drop in third-quarter net profit
- World's first green energy island sails into cost storm
- Georgia to partially recount disputed votes
- Pope's commission against abuse to publish first report
- Grieving parents fight to make Bulgaria's killer roads safer
- Taiwan worries about 'transactionalist' Trump as US votes
- Cuba's Buena Vista trumpeter Manuel 'Guajiro' Mirabal dies
- Spain seeks ground-breaking law for great apes
- Japan nuclear reactor near Fukushima to restart
- Suns scorch Lakers, Celtics stay perfect
- HSBC reports $8.5 billion pre-tax profit in third quarter
- A rare rehab centre fixes victims of Ethiopia's war
- The growing scourge of plastic pollution: in numbers
- Plastics: lifesaver turned environmental threat
- Outrage as Iran executes German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd
- China's only woman spaceflight engineer in crew for 'dream' mission
- Ohtani, Buehler overcome injuries to lift Dodgers a win from glory
- India temple firework explosion injures over 150
- S. Korean golfer Tom Kim sorry for damaging locker after playoff loss
- Dodgers beat Yankees to reach brink of World Series crown
- Asian shares rise as markets await tech results
- Iraq opens arms to Lebanese fleeing Israeli attacks
- Bruised Japan PM scrambles for support
- Saudi 'Davos in the desert' opens with region on war footing
- Myanmar's lost generation battles trauma, addiction at jungle rehab
- 'No one heard our cries': Tigray war rape survivors recount their ordeals
- Countdown to Busan: is a plastic pollution treaty in reach?
- Japan voters say 'punished' ruling party over scandal
- UNRWA, a lifeline for Palestinians amid decades of conflict
- Cuban blackout highlights urgency of boosting renewables: experts
- 'Amazing' AI de-ages Tom Hanks in new film 'Here'
- Big guns descend on Cali for final push in UN biodiversity talks
- 'I'm not a Nazi,' Trump insists as Harris blasts vile rhetoric
- Rodri wins men's Ballon d'Or as Real Madrid boycott
- Curry to miss at least two NBA games with left ankle injury
- Hefty electric vehicle costs dent Ford profits
- COP16 chair hails biodiversity attaining 'equal footing' with climate crisis
- Aitana Bonmati wins second successive women's Ballon d'Or
- Ohtani named in Dodgers starting line-up for World Series game three
- Real Madrid boycott Ballon d'Or ceremony
- US finalizes curbs on investing in Chinese tech
- Harris blasts Trump after racist rally rhetoric
- Tens of thousands protest in Georgia over 'stolen' election
- Man Utd sack Ten Hag, reportedly set to appoint Amorim
- Bolivia says Morales falsely claimed assassination bid
- Portuguese coach Ruben Amorim set for Manchester United job: reports
- Retiring Popp signs off as Germany's first female football superstar
- Chopin waltz unearthed after 200 years
- England's Freeman keen to make 'life a misery' for All Blacks' Reece
- Serie A strugglers Genoa sign Mario Balotelli
EU looks to end data hoarding by companies
With companies reaping increasing amounts of data from consumers and firms, the EU is looking at wrestling back access to that digital information under a Data Act proposed Wednesday by the European Commission.
"We want to give consumers and companies even more control over what can be done with their data, clarifying who can access data and on what terms," commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager said.
The draft legislation calls for manufacturers to allow owners of connected devices to see what data they are gathering and transmitting, and for the data to be shared with third parties.
It also aims to "rebalance" data-sharing contracts that firms sign up to, to make sure the terms are not unfairly tilted in favour of deep-pocketed conglomerates.
It wants government bodies to be able to access data held by companies in "exceptional circumstances", such as in public emergencies like floods or wildfires.
Importantly, it also wants to "place safeguards against unlawful data transfer" -- a proviso that could hit US or other foreign companies that seek to transfer Europeans' data out of the EU against the bloc's data privacy laws.
The EU's internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, said the Data Act would unlock "a wealth of industrial data in Europe", noting that much of its potential is still untapped.
The commission forecasts the rules would add 270 billion euros ($300 billion) to the EU's GDP over the next six years.
The proposed act is another plank in a digital transformation the European Union wants to implement across its 27 member countries by the end of the decade.
The EU is already a global standard setter for personal data protection and privacy under its General Data Protection Regulation that came into effect four years ago.
E.Borba--PC