Data Act cloud contract clauses

This screen looks at the written clauses for switching, exit, termination, and portability in a data processing service contract. It does not measure whether a live switch is technically ready. That is a separate charge and exit screen.

Article 25

Article 25 requires the customer's switching rights and the provider's obligations to be set out in a written contract, available before signature in a form the customer can store and reproduce. The clauses cover a change to another provider of the same service type, or a port of exportable data and digital assets to on-premises ICT, without undue delay.

Switching rights

The contract states the right to switch and the provider's switching obligations. A missing right, or a missing clause for a move to another provider of the same service type, is a switching-rights gap.

Transition and notice

The contract addresses a transitional period whose maximum is 30 calendar days, subject to the statute's own conditions, plus the notice period and the provider's assistance during the switch.

Portability scope

The contract defines the exportable data and the digital assets in scope, and covers a port to on-premises infrastructure where that route applies.

Termination

After the switch, the contract covers retrieval of the data, erasure once the agreed retrieval period ends, and the mechanics for ending the contract.

Fees, penalties, and switching charges

Before the contract is concluded, the provider discloses standard service fees, early termination penalties, and switching-charge terms that match the relevant date. From 12 January 2027 a switching charge for the switching process is prohibited. Ordinary service fees stay a separate category.

Security and business continuity

The contract addresses security and business continuity while the switch is underway, including continuity of the service during the transition.

Optional clause review

The Commission has published non-binding standard contractual clauses for cloud computing contracts, including modules on switching and exit, termination, security and business continuity, non-dispersion, non-amendment, and liability. Using them is voluntary. Skipping that review is not, by itself, a missing clause.

Clause checklist

Written contract
Access before signature
Switching right
Switch to another provider
On-premises portability
Exportable data scope
Digital asset scope
Transition period
Notice period
Switching assistance
Continuity during the switch
Retrieval period
Data erasure
Termination mechanics
Standard fee disclosure
Termination penalty disclosure
Switching-charge terms
Security continuity
Optional clause review
Responsible owner
Next review date

Examples

The switching right is absent: switching-rights clause gap.
The switching right is present and the export scope is absent: portability clause gap.
The 30-calendar-day maximum is absent: transition and notice clause gap.
Retrieval or erasure after the switch is absent: exit and termination clause gap.
The applicable clauses are present and the non-binding clauses were not used. That does not establish contract validity, and reviewing the optional clauses remains a separate choice.

Limits

This does not establish contract compliance, validity or enforceability. There is no numeric score. The screen does not upload clause text, and it does not treat Commission cloud clauses as mandatory. Later Commission guidance is a manual review.

Data Act cloud contract clauses