A machine-readable access point, such as a barcode, QR-style symbol, or other AIDC medium, used to retrieve product or passport information.
Data carrier is the physical or machine-readable access point through which passport or product information becomes retrievable in the real world. It is essential to DPP and battery passport implementation, but it is not the passport, not the identifier, and not the underlying data set.
A data carrier is the scannable or machine-readable access point. It can point to a battery passport or digital product passport, but it is not the passport, not the identifier, and not the product data itself.
A data carrier is a machine-readable access point attached to or associated with a product, packaging, label, or document. Under ESPR, it can be a linear barcode symbol, two-dimensional symbol, or other automatic identification data capture medium readable by a device. In passport systems, the data carrier enables access to the relevant digital record; it does not itself define the passport, the product identifier, the access-rights model, or the underlying data quality.
The common mistake is to call the QR code the digital product passport or battery passport. The data carrier is only the access mechanism. A QR code, barcode, RFID tag, or comparable medium can help a user or system reach the right record, but the passport is the structured record or data set behind that access point. The data carrier is also different from the unique identifier: the carrier is what is scanned, while the identifier is the string or identity value used to distinguish the product or battery.
ESPR defines data carrier in Article 2, point 29 as a linear barcode symbol, a two-dimensional symbol, or another automatic identification data capture medium that can be read by a device. This technology-neutral wording is important because the regulation does not reduce DPP access to one visible QR-code format.
For implementation, the data carrier has to remain physically usable and logically connected to the correct record. Teams need to consider scanability, durability, placement, print quality, replacement, link resolution, offline handling, tamper risk, and what happens if the carrier becomes unreadable. The carrier is a small object in the user experience, but it is a critical failure point for passport access.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for sustainable products
a linear barcode symbol, a two-dimensional symbol or other automatic identification data capture medium that can be read by a device;
Reference: Article 2, point 29
This term matters when teams design how a QR code, barcode, or equivalent identifier will connect the physical product to its digital record. Choices about the carrier affect scanability, durability, placement, link resolution, and whether downstream actors can reliably reach the right compliance information.
Data carrier is easy to overvalue and undervalue at the same time. It is not the passport or the evidence system, but the passport can fail in the real world if the scan must resolve to the correct product record and instead points to the wrong page, stale data, or an inaccessible system. For Minespider, data carrier is the bridge from digital compliance architecture to the object a user can actually scan.