Arcep gives the go-ahead for the labelling of Data Intermediation Service Providers

The French law aimed at securing and regulating the digital space, known as the SREN Act, was published in the Journal Officiel on 22 May. In particular, the text relates to the implementation of the European Data Governance Act, which formalises the existence of the Data Intermediation Service Providers (DIPS) that the Association pour l’Intermédiation de Données (AID) has been calling for. AID intends to make a full contribution to sectoral policies promoting the free circulation of data and innovative data intermediation initiatives. Its aim? To build a thriving ecosystem to accelerate the growth of the data economy.
This objective is shared by Arcep (the French regulatory authority for electronic communications, postal services and press distribution), which has been given new powers under the SREN Act. In particular, the Authority will be responsible for receiving notifications and processing applications for PSID labelling under the European Data Governance Act (DGA).
Léo Quentin, Head of the Data Services and Cloud Unit at Arcep, explains.

AID: What is the background to the new regulatory tasks delegated to Arcep by the SREN Act?

Léo Quentin: In particular, this law establishes the national framework for the implementation of the European Regulation on data governance, the Data Governance Act, in which Arcep will be participating. The aim of this European text is to enable the growth of the data economy and to promote the circulation and use of data by businesses, for example in order to develop innovative products. In particular, the text officially defines a new category of players: Data Intermediation Service Providers (DISPs).

All this stems from the European Commission’s observation that the potential of data is largely under-utilised in the European Union. The aim is to create a single market for data within the main European economic sectors. The law also gives Arcep powers over cloud providers, in anticipation of the Data Act.

AID: What provisions does the text include?

Léo Quentin: By creating PSIDs, the law creates neutral, trusted third parties who put those who produce the data – whether personal or not – in touch with those who are interested in it. These intermediaries are required to comply with certain obligations, notably data neutrality – in other words, they must not use the data they transmit for their own purposes – commercial non-discrimination, fairness to users and security of data exchanges.

The aim of all this is to guarantee the independence, neutrality and fairness of data intermediation service providers vis-à-vis their users, and to provide guarantees of confidence for the development of the data economy. In addition, they must notify their activities to the national authorities, namely Arcep in France, and will be able to ask the Authority to confirm that they are complying with the obligations laid down in the regulation in order to obtain certification as a ‘data intermediation service provider recognised in the European Union’.

AID: What happens in practice with this notification and the applications for certification?

Léo Quentin: From 22 May, Arcep opened a window enabling PSIDs to notify their activity and apply for the corresponding label, recognised throughout the European Union. The notification and labelling procedures are available on the authority’s website. It is now up to the players to get to grips with them.

To apply for certification, they must provide evidence that they are complying with the obligations set out in the text. All of this is checked by Arcep before it awards them – where appropriate – a PSID label recognised throughout the EU. The first notifications have already arrived, and AID members are among them. There are only a few pioneering players at the moment, which is perfectly normal as the approach is highly innovative, but we expect activity to develop. Finally, the data will be sent to the European Commission to update the European register of data intermediation services, which lists all the notified players in the EU.

AID: What are the issues at European level for data intermediaries?

Léo Quentin: There is a real issue at European level around the harmonisation of data sharing. Arcep is a member of the European Data Innovation Committee, which is working to ensure that the rules are the same in all Member States. This committee also aims to develop interoperability and network intermediaries within the European Union. It is indeed possible that the data of an agricultural player could be of interest to a player in another sector. This means that players in different sectors need to be able to communicate and exchange data across ever wider areas. This is an area of expertise that we have already begun to develop in other fields, and which we will be applying to data intermediaries.

AID : How does Arcep see this new role?

Léo Quentin: Our philosophy is to support the opening up of digital ecosystems, and data intermediation is part of this approach. We want to work to encourage exchanges, make the data economy market more fluid and ensure that people have confidence in this new market. It’s a mission we welcome with great enthusiasm.And even though this is new territory for Arcep, it fits in completely with our philosophy and our DNA as a regulator. We will carry out this mission as diligently as possible, and we will also pursue a transparent information policy to support the players and the development of the market. Our aim is for this new data economy to be useful and to develop the potential of data exchanges, which is currently under-exploited.

The Association pour l’Intermédiation de Données (AID) is delighted that Arcep (French regulatory authority for electronic communications, post and press distribution) has been designated as the regulatory authority for data intermediaries in France, and that three of its members have been officially entered on the European Register of Data Intermediation Services.

Trusted third party status, regulated by Arcep

The SREN Act aims to strengthen trust and competition in the data economy. It includes measures designed, for example, to restore commercial fairness in the cloud market and adapt French law to apply recent European regulations on data, both personal and otherwise, such as the Data Governance Act (DGA).
This text institutionalises the status of data intermediary at European Union level: a trusted third party who facilitates and secures the exchange of data between its holders and users.
In France, Arcep (Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques, des postes et de la distribution de la presse) has been designated as the authority that will control and monitor compliance with the requirements set out in the DGA, enabling structures that notify themselves to be entered in the European Register of Data Intermediation Services. Arcep will also promote France’s position in the field of data intermediation services at European and international level.

Our members, the first to be notified as data intermediaries in France

The second reason for satisfaction for AID is the registration of three of its members in the European Register of Data Intermediation Services.

« The recent notification of Agdatahub, for the agricultural and agri-food sectors, Hub One DataTrust, for the airport sector, and MiTrust, for authentic personal data, puts France firmly on the central register of data intermediaries in a variety of sectors. The next step is to label our members as an additional guarantee of confidence that they comply with the regulatory criteria defined by the DGA. »

Sébastien Picardat, Chairman of AID

AID, for its part, continues to raise questions about the application of the new regulations with public authorities AID continues to raise questions about the application of the new regulations with the public authorities, to capitalise on the expertise of its members and to promote the role of data intermediaries in the data industry, notably through its publications on social networks, under the #dataintermediation banner. The association is also preparing its first conference, to be held on 24 October in Issy-les-Moulineaux.

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Faced with the rapid and global emergence of Generative AI, AID (Association pour l’Intermédiation de Données) affirms the importance of data intermediaries in terms of the ethical aspect of exchanges, respect for the rights of data holders and compliance with competition law. This position is at the heart of its contribution to the public consultation on “Generative AI” launched by the French Competition Authority between February and March 2024.

Data intermediaries: a response to the risks of distortion of competition

As trusted third parties, Data Intermediation Service Providers (DISPs) respond to the risks of an asymmetrical market: that of data holders (of which VSEs/SMEs are part) faced with a very limited number of generative Artificial Intelligence publishers, constituting a de facto oligopoly.
Providing a structural and technological response to the risks, for example, of locking access to data or its lack of portability, PSIDs orchestrate secure data transactions that are transparent from a legal, commercial and technical point of view.

“Data intermediation providers have an essential role to play in establishing a balanced data market between data holders and data users, at a time when trust and transparency are key elements in developing this market in compliance with European regulations and values”

Sébastien Picardat, Chairman of AID and CEO of Agdatahub

SREN law: data intermediaries, a regulated status

The status of data intermediary is a recent role, regulated in France by Arcep (according to the Securing and Regulating the Digital Space law adopted by the joint committee on 26 March 2024) and stemming from European regulatory developments (Data Governance Act and IA Act). This role guarantees the free circulation of data within the European Union, while respecting the rights of data holders and competition law between data holders and users.

While AID recognises that, in order to function, the Generative AI sector needs mass access to personal and non-personal data, this can only be done, in regulatory and structural terms, through a secure framework in which data holders agree to make their data accessible to Generative AI publishers (as users). This is the raison d’être of Data Intermediation Service Providers (DISPs).

AID, Association pour l’intermédiation des données (Association for Data Intermediation), notes a legal limbo regarding the application of the DGA (Data Governance Act), the European regulation on data governance, which comes into force in the European Union on September 24, 2023. AID is ready to provide its expertise on these crucial issues.

At a time when trust and transparency are key to developing a data market that respects European regulations and values, particularly in terms of controlling their uses, Data Intermediation Service Providers (DISPs) and their users, grouped within AID, wish to draw the attention of public authorities to the conditions of application of the DGA for existing players.

“Many questions arise for the members of our association“, says Sébastien Picardat, President of AID and CEO of Agdatahub, “the current situation deserves clarification before the joint commission on the SREN bill is held“.

The answers to be provided and the positions to be taken by the French and European authorities are just as necessary for the members of AID as for the other existing players. Without clarification, some of these players could be tempted to take the plunge for lack of precise knowledge of the new regulation’s requirements.

The first question is a key one, as it has a number of corollaries: does the DGA introduce a compulsory regime for any company providing intermediation services as defined?

If the answer is yes, are data holders or users obliged to use PSIDs that comply with the DGA’s obligations?

These initial questions, which concern the scope of the DGA and data users and holders, are far from trivial. They lead to further questions about sharing mechanisms, labeling criteria, sanctions and information from competent authorities to stakeholders, as well as interoperability and the digital commons.

2024 is a key year for developing and strengthening the confidence of economic players and citizens in data sharing and intermediation. In fact, the European vision, which has been largely supported by France from the outset of the regulatory and legal reflections, could be implemented right now, even as the first data intermediaries are being registered by other member states within the EU register of data intermediation services.

About AID, Association for Data Intermediation

AID was created in November 2023 by Agdatahub, Apidae Tourisme, Dawex, Hub One DataTrust, Orange Business and Promotheus-X, with the support of Banque des Territoires. In particular, it aims to define the general policy and strategy for all cross-functional issues relating to intermediation and data space activities. To this end, its mission is to represent Data Intermediation Service Providers (DISPs), as well as the users of these data intermediation services, in dealings with public authorities in France and Europe.

AID, Association pour l’intermédiation des données (Association for Data Intermediation), has appointed its Board of Directors and elected its first Executive Committee at the close of its Constitutive General Meeting on November 28, 2023.

The purpose of governance, as set out in the association’s articles of association, is to enable AID to carry out its missions, in particular that of defining strategy and contributing to political choices in activities relating to data intermediation and data spaces.

The Board of Directors is made up of :

At its first meeting on November 28, 2023, the members of the AID Board of Directors elected their officers:

During the event “Plateformes d’intermédiation de la donnée : de l’expérimentation à l’industrialisation” (Data intermediation platforms: from experimentation to industrialization) organized in november by the Banque des Territoires, Agdatahub, APIDAE, Dawex, Hub One DataTrust, Orange Business and Prometheus-X announced the creation of the Association pour l’Intermédiation de Données (AID), as founding members. Banque des Territoires will also join the association as an associate member.

A strong ambition and balanced representation of all players

As indicated by the European Commission in its Data Governance Act (DGA), the economic and societal potential of data is enormous. It can help develop new products and services based on new technologies, contribute to economic development and the attractiveness of regions, enable more efficient management of public services, and provide tools for tackling societal and environmental challenges. However, there is still considerable room for progress, due to a lack of trust, transparency and security when it comes to sharing, exchanging, reusing and collecting data.

That’s why, as the professional association for players in the data intermediation business in France (a regulated activity under the terms of the Data Governance Act), the AID association aims to contribute fully to consultations upstream of public policies promoting data transactions within a system based on trust, transparency and security.

To this end, the association is organized around 4 colleges of members:

A clear vision of the role of data intermediation in value chains

The action plan drawn up by the various colleges is designed to lay the foundations for the long-term organization of the association’s work. At the heart of this work is an observatory of best practices for the benefit of all members.

“Our shared aim is to develop trust, transparency and security in data transactions, based on strong guarantees,” explains Sébastien Picardat, Chairman of AID and Managing Director of Agdatahub. “Far from starting from a blank sheet of paper, we are building on the best practices already in place in each of the association’s members, to share them, and even strengthen and improve them where possible.“

Initially, this work will focus on 3 areas, drawing on expertise from outside the association:

In addition to exchanges between members, AID intends to lay the foundations for a dialogue with all professional players in data intermediation at European level, with a view to promoting the construction of a single European data market.

“This future dialogue, which we hope to conduct with sister associations from other European countries, seems to us necessary to guarantee a strong voice for community players in the face of a constantly evolving world. In fact, AID’s vision of data intermediation is based first and foremost on the ethical use of data through the expression of informed authorizations by each of the players involved,” concludes Sébastien Picardat.