How to Audit Cloud Switching Charges and Notice Terms Under the EU Data Act

On one cloud order for a customer in the Union, mark whether the service is a data-processing service, then mark the written switching terms, the notice and transition clocks, the export list, retrieval, erasure, and each money line as present, partial, or absent. Do that before a remaining-term fee is treated as the subscription.

Treat vendor claims about establishment, a custom build, a long notice, and a remaining-term line called the subscription as rows inside those marks.

Disclaimer: Checkory provides AI support, not legal advice. Consult a qualified lawyer for binding decisions.

Why mark the customer and the service before any fee?

Mark two gates before any clock or fee. The customer must be in the Union, and the service must be a data-processing service. If either is no, stop this checklist. A customer established only in the United Kingdom is outside it.

Aisling at Docklands Notes Ltd, a 19-person Dublin buyer, holds a US vendor order for a hosted analytics workspace. The customer is established in Ireland. The term is 36 months from 1 November 2026, and year one is €48,000 prepaid. The 16 October 2026 email says a US entity takes the order outside the Data Act. Article 1(3)(f) applies to providers wherever they are established, if the customer is in the Union. Article 50 applies the Regulation from 12 September 2025. Article 2(8) covers this hosted workspace. Nordia Law, updated 10 October 2026, finds no general SME exemption in Chapter VI.

Why do a custom-built claim and a testing claim remove different rows?

Mark the exception before the clocks. A custom-built claim removes the charge rules and Article 30(1) and (3), and leaves Article 25. A testing claim can remove the whole chapter only if the provider said so before signature.

The email's custom-dashboard claim does not remove Article 25, and this order is not a limited test.

When are the written switching terms actually in the contract?

The switching terms are absent unless they were available before signature in a form the customer can store and reproduce. A sales email is not that contract.

This order never says the switching terms were supplied in a storable form, so Article 25(1) is absent. Article 29(4) information on fees, penalties, and reduced charges is absent too. DLA Piper's 31 July 2025 note treats the right as applying to contracts concluded before 12 September 2025.

Why are notice, transition, and the two extensions four marks?

Notice, transition, a provider extension, and one customer extension are four marks. The notice cap is two months. The transition cap is 30 calendar days, and the contract continues to apply.

Clause 4 requires six months' written notice for any exit, so Article 25(2)(d) is absent. Bird & Bird, 2 September 2025, reads the two-month cap as a switching mechanism, not a general end to a fixed term. Clause 6's ninety days exceed the cap in Article 25(2)(a). A provider extension needs proof of unfeasibility, notice within 14 working days, and a seven-month cap. Where the Commission FAQ says 14 days, mark 14 working days. The one customer extension in Article 25(5) is missing.

What do you mark for assistance, the export list, and trade secrets?

Assistance, continuity, security, and exit information are duties the terms must already contain. The export list and the trade-secret exclusion are two exhaustive lists.

Clause 6 prices CSV export at €250 per hour plus list-price egress, so required assistance is partial. A day-rate card belongs on the exit-assistance rates checklist. Article 25(2)(e) and (f) are the two lists. Article 2(38) includes metadata and excludes trade secrets, and that exclusion must not delay switching. Clause 7 does not include metadata, logs, configurations, or derived datasets. A commercial export promise belongs on the SaaS data-export and exit-rights checklist.

Why do retrieval and erasure sit after the transition?

Retrieval and erasure come after the transition. Retrieval is at least 30 calendar days. Erasure follows that window, or a later agreed date, once switching has completed.

Clause 11's fourteen days are shorter than Article 25(2)(g) requires, so mark retrieval absent. Ordinary-course deletion leaves erasure partial. Article 25(3)'s three choices are missing from clause 4.

Which column does each money line belong in?

Put each money line in one column on the grid below. The 12 January 2027 ban empties the switching-charge column and leaves the others in place.

Article 2(36) excludes standard fees and early-termination penalties and includes data egress. From 11 January 2024 to 12 January 2027, only direct switching costs are allowed. Article 29(1) then bans switching charges. The Commission FAQ version 1.3 states that date, though it is not the Commission's official position. Clause 9 calls the remaining fees a switching charge and the subscription. A typical mistake is to keep the subscription label. The label does not move the line. Bird & Bird and DLA Piper disagree on a remaining-term penalty, and no percentage is set. Recital 89 keeps the service fee payable during the transition. Article 34(2) allows in-parallel egress at cost, so clause 6's list price stays an exit charge.

What does the owner log need before you countersign?

Name each row present, partial, or absent, with an owner. Do not countersign while notice, transition, retrieval, or a mislabelled switching line is absent. The 12 January 2027 ban does not remove the other fee columns.

On this draft, for example, six months, ninety days, fourteen days, and clause 9 are absent or mislabelled. Name an owner before Friday 23 October 2026. Upload the draft for a first read that flags those rows, before a qualified lawyer decides.