The German Data Alliance (Deutsche Daten Allianz) is the cross-company interest group for data protection, competitiveness and data ownership — founded in 2018, more relevant today than ever.
When the German Data Alliance published its exposé in 2018, it spoke of "digital colonialism" — of monopolies in search, social media and e-commerce, of our data being used without adequate compensation, of the need for a remuneration system for data.
Some called that exaggerated. Today the EU's Digital Markets Act designates exactly these corporations as "gatekeepers". The Data Act has mandated data sharing since September 2025. The Data Governance Act created the framework for neutral data intermediaries — precisely the "clearing house for data" the DDA called for from day one.
The analysis was right. The laws are in place. What's missing is implementation by the economy itself. That is exactly why the DDA is back.
Verimi, NetID and the big players' targeting alliances were meant to become the counterweight to Big Tech. No market-shaping counterforce ever emerged. The corporations' top-down approach has failed — it is time for the cooperative approach of all market participants.
What applied to advertising and e-commerce in 2018 applies exponentially to artificial intelligence today: whoever holds the data trains the models. Whoever holds the models controls the value creation. Without fair data exchange, Europe's Mittelstand remains a spectator of the AI economy.
GDPR, DMA, DSA, Data Governance Act, Data Act: Europe has delivered. But laws alone do not create a functioning data market. It takes a neutral body that sets standards, organises exchange and pools the interests of all participants.
The DDA organises the Open Exchange of Data: companies based in Germany exchange usage and preference data multilaterally, reciprocally and in full compliance with data protection law — so that every participant in the attention economy reaches the customer on equal terms, not just the gatekeepers.
Fair, standardised terms for data exchange between participants.
Shared quality and format standards for data "to DDA standard".
One voice towards policy and regulation, from the GDPR to the Data Act.
The DDA is being relaunched as an open cooperative of everyone who stands to gain from fair data exchange — companies of every size, associations, NGOs, consumer advocates. Those who join now help define the standards.
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