Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 · Article 3 ·Applies since 12 September 2025

What you must tell the user before the contract

Article 3(2) of the Data Act lists four things a seller, rentor or lessor must give the user before a contract for a connected product, and Article 3(3) lists nine for a related service. Both say the information shall be provided in a clear and comprehensible manner, and both open with "at least" — so the list is a floor, not a ceiling. This free tool assembles those thirteen items in each of the 22 languages, from the Regulation's own wording. It does not decide what your product generates or who holds the data.

Which duty

Connected product or related service

Who is giving the information

Name and address Connected product or service

What Article 3 requires

Both paragraphs say "at least" the following information. Everything here is required; nothing here is exhaustive. If your product or service generates something a user would need to know that is not on this list, Article 3 does not excuse leaving it out.

the type, format and estimated volume of product data which the connected product is capable of generating;

whether the connected product is capable of generating data continuously and in real-time;

whether the connected product is capable of storing data on-device or on a remote server, including, where applicable, the intended duration of retention;

how the user may access, retrieve or, where relevant, erase the data, including the technical means to do so, as well as their terms of use and quality of service.

the nature, estimated volume and collection frequency of product data that the prospective data holder is expected to obtain and, where relevant, the arrangements for the user to access or retrieve such data, including the prospective data holder’s data storage arrangements and the duration of retention;

the nature and estimated volume of related service data to be generated, as well as the arrangements for the user to access or retrieve such data, including the prospective data holder’s data storage arrangements and the duration of retention;

whether the prospective data holder expects to use readily available data itself and the purposes for which those data are to be used, and whether it intends to allow one or more third parties to use the data for purposes agreed upon with the user;

the identity of the prospective data holder, such as its trading name and the geographical address at which it is established and, where applicable, of other data processing parties;

the means of communication which make it possible to contact the prospective data holder quickly and communicate with that data holder efficiently;

how the user can request that the data are shared with a third party and, where applicable, end the data sharing;

the user’s right to lodge a complaint alleging an infringement of any of the provisions of this Chapter with the competent authority designated pursuant to Article 37;

whether a prospective data holder is the holder of trade secrets contained in the data that is accessible from the connected product or generated during the provision of a related service, and, where the prospective data holder is not the trade secret holder, the identity of the trade secret holder;

the duration of the contract between the user and the prospective data holder, as well as the arrangements for terminating such a contract.

The information

Article 3 prescribes what must be said, not how. There is no model, no annex and no prescribed layout — unlike a declaration of conformity, which has one. What the article fixes is the content: these items, clearly and comprehensibly, before the contract is concluded. Where they appear is yours — a product page, a specification sheet, an annex to your terms, a section in the order flow. This tool supplies the content. The form is the seller's own.

This is pre-contractual information, which is not a contract term. Article 3 governs what the user must be told before concluding the contract; it does not draft the contract, and putting this text into your terms does not by itself make it contractual. The rights it describes — access, retrieval, erasure, sharing with a third party, complaint — exist under the Regulation whether or not your contract restates them. This tool produces the information Article 3 requires. It does not produce an agreement, and it is not legal advice about one.