Defining 'Products with Digital Elements' (PDEs) in Your Software

So, what exactly counts as a 'Product with Digital Elements' – or PDE – when we're talking about your software, apps, games, uncritical components, or game/app engines?

Think of it like this: if it’s a software product, and its intended purpose or reasonably foreseeable use includes a direct or indirect logical or physical data connection to a device or network, it's a PDE (Article 2(1), Article 3(1) of the CRA legal text). This covers your standalone game that connects for updates, your mobile app fetching data, the software library you sell that developers integrate, or even game and app engines themselves if they have connectable features.

Remote Processing

And here’s a key point: if your product needs a remote data processing solution that you designed or had designed for it to perform one of its functions – like your app relying on your specific backend API for core features – that remote part is also considered part of your PDE (Article 3(1), Article 3(2), Recital 11 of the CRA legal text). The CRA looks at the whole picture to ensure security.

Key Takeaway

Any software you create (games, apps, libraries, engines) that connects to a device or network, including any essential backend you provide for its function, is a Product with Digital Elements under the CRA.