> For clean Markdown of any page, append .md to the page URL. > For a complete documentation index, see https://tieback.io/docs/llms.txt. > For AI client integration (Claude Code, Cursor, etc.), connect to the MCP server at https://tieback.io/docs/_mcp/server. # What is a Data Carrier? > A vendor neutral explanation of data carriers: what they are, why they exist, how they differ from identifiers, and how linear barcodes, QR codes, Data Matrix, RFID, NFC and digital carriers deliver the same product identity to different audiences and Digital Product Passports. ## Executive Summary Almost every confusion in product identification comes from mistaking the container for the contents. A [GTIN](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/what-is-a-gtin) is an identifier. A [QR code](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/qr-code) is not. A Data Matrix is not. An RFID tag is not. An NFC tag is not. Those are **data carriers**: technologies whose only job is to hold a value in a form that a machine can read reliably, in a particular physical environment, at a particular cost. The distinction is not pedantry. It determines how systems are designed and how long those designs survive. An organisation that treats the QR code as the identity finds itself unable to change packaging, unable to support a second reading technology, and unable to answer the simplest audit question: what is this product? An organisation that separates the two can print the same identity as a linear barcode on the consumer pack, a Data Matrix on the component, an RFID tag in the logistics label and an NFC tag inside the housing, and every one of those readings returns the same answer. Data carriers exist because identifiers are abstract and the world is physical. A number in a database cannot be scanned at a checkout, read at speed on a conveyor, or tapped by a phone against a shelf. Each of those situations imposes different constraints: available surface area, reading distance, line of sight, tolerance of dirt and abrasion, unit cost measured in fractions of a cent or in whole currency units. There is no universally best carrier, and the search for one is a symptom of not having stated the requirement. For [Digital Product Passports](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/digital-product-passport), carriers have become a compliance concern rather than a purely operational one. Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 requires a data carrier linked to a unique product identifier, and the delegated act for each product group settles the specifics. That framing is deliberate and instructive: the law separates identity from carriage in exactly the way good system design does, and it does not name a technology. * A data carrier holds and delivers an identifier. It is never the identity itself. - Multiple carrier technologies can represent exactly the same identifier without changing it. - Carriers are chosen against physical constraints: surface, distance, line of sight, durability, cost. - QR codes and Data Matrix are two-dimensional symbologies; RFID and NFC are radio technologies; none is an identifier. - GS1 Digital Link is an encoding, not a carrier: it defines what is written into a carrier, not how it is read. - Digital Product Passport rules require a carrier linked to a unique product identifier, without naming the technology. This is the seventh article in the Standards & Technology pillar and the seventeenth in the tieback Knowledge learning path. It follows [What is a GTIN?](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/what-is-a-gtin), which explains the identifier that most carriers exist to deliver. Framework TBF-017 The Product Information Delivery Model Describes how physical carriers deliver an identifier that leads to product information, rather than carrying the information itself. ## Table of Contents * [Definition](#definition) * [Why Data Carriers Matter](#why-data-carriers-matter) * [The Product Information Delivery Model](#the-product-information-delivery-model) * [Linear Barcodes](#linear-barcodes) * [QR Codes](#qr-codes) * [GS1 QR Codes](#gs1-qr-codes) * [Data Matrix](#data-matrix) * [RFID](#rfid) * [NFC](#nfc) * [Digital Carriers](#digital-carriers) * [Choosing the Right Data Carrier](#choosing-the-right-data-carrier) * [How Data Carriers Support Digital Product Passports](#how-data-carriers-support-digital-product-passports) * [Benefits for Manufacturers](#benefits-for-manufacturers) * [Benefits for Retailers](#benefits-for-retailers) * [Benefits for Consumers](#benefits-for-consumers) * [Benefits for Regulators](#benefits-for-regulators) * [Comparison of Common Data Carriers](#comparison-of-common-data-carriers) * [Common Misconceptions](#common-misconceptions) * [Frequently Asked Questions](#frequently-asked-questions) * [Key Takeaways](#key-takeaways) * [Related Articles](#related-articles) * [Related Glossary Terms](#related-glossary-terms) * [References](#references) * [About This Article](#about-this-article) ## Definition A means of representing data in a form that a machine can read automatically. In product identification this is the printed symbol, marked pattern or radio tag that holds an identifier and delivers it to a reading device. The carrier is the vehicle; the identifier is the passenger. The defined rules by which characters are converted into a printed pattern of bars, squares or modules, and back again. EAN/UPC, Data Matrix and QR Code are symbologies, each specified so that any conforming reader can decode any conforming symbol. The convention that determines what content is written into a carrier and how it is structured, as distinct from how that content is physically represented. GS1 element strings and GS1 Digital Link are encoding standards; they can be carried by several different symbologies. A service that receives an identifier and returns the appropriate destination or data for the party asking. It sits between the carrier and the information, and it is what allows one printed symbol to serve consumers, repairers, recyclers and regulators differently. ## Why Data Carriers Matter Identifiers only create value when they can be read without human transcription, and the gap between "the number exists" and "the number can be read here" is entirely occupied by carrier decisions. Consider what changes across a single product's life. On the retail shelf, a carrier must be read at arm's length by a fixed scanner, in a fraction of a second, on a glossy printed surface, thousands of times a day. In the warehouse, it must be read at pallet distance, possibly without line of sight, while moving. On a machined component, it must survive heat, oil and abrasion for a decade with no label to peel. In a consumer's hand, it must be readable by an unmodified phone camera with no application installed. Each requirement points to a different technology, and no single technology satisfies all of them well. Carrier choices are also where cost lives. Printing a linear barcode on existing artwork is effectively free. Direct part marking requires equipment and process validation. RFID adds a physical component and its price to every unit. These are not rounding errors at volume, and they explain why carrier debates that look technical are usually commercial. The final reason carriers matter is that they are the only part of the identification stack the outside world touches. A consumer never sees the database, the [resolver](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/resolver) or the standard. They see a square on a box, and their entire experience of a product's digital identity depends on whether it reads first time. #### Choosing the carrier before stating the requirement Programmes routinely begin with "we are adding QR codes" rather than with who must read what, where, under what conditions, at what cost. The carrier is the last decision in the chain, not the first, and taking it first quietly fixes every decision above it. ## The Product Information Delivery Model The framework below sets out the seven layers between a product's identity and the information a person or system finally receives. It reads downward as a delivery chain: each layer hands something to the next, and a weakness at any layer is felt at the end. Its argument is simple. The identifier identifies the product. The data carrier transports the identifier. The scanner reads the carrier. The resolver connects the identifier to trusted information. Identity Carriage Delivery L1 Product Identity The thing itself The abstract notion of which product this is: a distinct trade item, model or unit that parties need to refer to consistently. It exists whether or not anyone has written it down, and it is what every layer below is ultimately about. L2 Identifier The reference The governed value that stands for that identity, such as a GTIN, optionally qualified by a batch or serial number. It is format independent and carrier independent, and it is intended to outlive every technology beneath it. L3 Encoding Standard The grammar The convention determining what is written and how it is structured: GS1 element strings with application identifiers, or a GS1 Digital Link web address. This layer is why a reader can tell a GTIN from an expiry date inside the same payload. L4 Data Carrier The vehicle The physical representation that holds the encoded value: a linear barcode, QR code, Data Matrix, RFID or NFC tag. Chosen against surface, distance, durability and cost, and replaceable without touching anything above it. L5 Scanning Technology The reader The device and software that recover the value: a fixed retail scanner, a handheld imager, a vision system, an RFID interrogator, a consumer phone camera. Carrier and reader must be chosen as a pair; either alone proves nothing. L6 Resolver The switchboard The service that takes the recovered identifier and decides what this requester should receive. Because resolution is configuration rather than print, destinations can change long after the carrier has been manufactured. L7 Information Services The outcome The maintained content finally delivered: pricing, traceability records, safety notices, repair guidance, recycling instructions, a Digital Product Passport. The quality of this layer determines whether the whole chain was worth building. Layers one to three are governance and change slowly. Layer four is engineering and is expected to be replaced several times over a product family's life. Layers five to seven are operations and change continuously. Failures diagnosed as "the QR code does not work" almost always originate at layer three or layer six. > **Test the pair, never the symbol** > > A carrier specification that has been validated on a design workstation is not evidence. > Validation means printing on production substrate with production presses, then reading with the > devices that will actually be used, including the worst phone in the target market. Most > first-time carrier failures are print quality and contrast issues, not standards issues. ## Linear Barcodes The one-dimensional barcode is the oldest widely deployed carrier and remains the highest volume one by a very large margin. It encodes a modest number of digits as a sequence of bars and spaces of varying width, read by sweeping across the symbol. In retail, the EAN/UPC family carries a GTIN and nothing else. Other linear symbologies such as ITF-14 serve outer cases, and GS1-128 carries additional structured data such as batch and expiry alongside the identifier. Its virtues are that it is essentially free to add to printed artwork, universally readable by decades of installed equipment, and extremely fast at the point of sale. Its limits are equally clear: very low capacity, a requirement for clean line of sight, sensitivity to damage across the bars, and no practical way to carry a web address. #### Do not remove the linear barcode when adding a two-dimensional one Retail infrastructure and its installed reading base do not turn over quickly. Transitions toward two-dimensional carriers at point of sale are being managed deliberately and over a period of years, and dual marking is the normal approach during that period. Removing the linear symbol early makes a product unsellable in stores whose scanners have not yet been upgraded. ## QR Codes The QR Code is a two-dimensional matrix symbology, specified internationally under ISO/IEC 18004, that stores data in a grid of dark and light modules read in two directions at once. Three properties explain its dominance in consumer facing use. It holds far more data than a linear symbol in a comparable area. It can be read from any orientation. And it can be decoded by an ordinary phone camera with no additional application, which is what turned it from an industrial tool into a public one. What must be stated plainly is what a QR code is not. It is not an identifier and it carries no inherent meaning. Whatever characters are encoded into it are simply what someone chose to encode. A QR code containing a marketing campaign address and a QR code containing a structured product identity look identical to a person and are entirely different to a system. The difference lives at the encoding layer, not the carrier layer. #### Saying a product 'has a QR code' as if that described its identity It describes the packaging and nothing else. Two products with visually identical QR codes may have no interoperable identity between them. The meaningful questions are what is encoded, under which standard, and what resolves it. ## GS1 QR Codes A GS1 QR Code is a QR Code whose contents follow GS1 encoding rules rather than being arbitrary text. The symbology is the same; the discipline is not. That discipline is what makes the symbol interoperable. Because the payload is structured, a conforming reader can extract the GTIN unambiguously, distinguish it from a batch number or expiry date, and pass each element to the right system field. An arbitrary QR code offers no such guarantee: a receiving system must be told, out of band, how to interpret the string it just read. In practice this most often means encoding a [GS1 Digital Link](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/gs1-digital-link) address, which is simultaneously a structured identifier expression and a usable web address. A business system reads the identity without opening anything; a consumer's phone follows the address and reaches a resolver. One symbol, two audiences, no compromise between them. This is the mechanism explored in [QR Codes vs GS1 Digital Link](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/qr-codes-vs-gs1-digital-link). ## Data Matrix Data Matrix is a two-dimensional symbology specified under ISO/IEC 16022, designed for situations where the marking area is very small or the marking surface is hostile. Its distinguishing characteristics are density and resilience. It achieves usable data capacity in symbols measured in millimetres, and its error correction allows reliable decoding even when a significant portion of the symbol has been damaged or obscured. It is also well suited to direct part marking, where the pattern is etched, dot peened or laser marked into the material itself rather than printed on a label that can be removed. This is why it dominates in healthcare, aerospace, automotive and electronics. A surgical instrument, a circuit board or a turbine component cannot carry a printed label through its service life, and the identity must survive cleaning cycles, heat and handling that would destroy any adhesive substrate. #### Same GTIN, five different carriers A single trade item, one GTIN, five ways of delivering it. **EAN/UPC barcode.** Printed on the consumer pack, read by fixed scanners at the till in milliseconds. Carries the GTIN alone. **GS1 QR Code.** Printed alongside it, containing a GS1 Digital Link address that includes the same GTIN. A phone camera resolves it to consumer information; a business scanner extracts the identity. **Data Matrix.** Marked on the small inner component, a few millimetres across, encoding the same GTIN with a batch qualifier so production runs remain distinguishable after packaging is discarded. **RFID.** Embedded in the logistics label on the outer case, read in bulk without line of sight as the pallet passes a portal. The identity read is the same GTIN. **NFC.** A tag inside the product housing, tapped by a consumer's phone to reach the same destination the printed QR code would have reached. Five technologies, five cost profiles, five reading environments, one unchanged identifier. That is the entire point of separating identity from carriage. ## RFID Radio Frequency Identification uses radio waves rather than optics. A tag containing a small chip and antenna responds to an interrogating reader, returning its stored data without any line of sight. The operational consequences are substantial. Many tags can be read in a single interrogation, allowing a whole case or pallet to be counted as it moves through a portal. Tags can be read inside packaging, through most non-metallic materials, and at ranges from centimetres to several metres depending on frequency and power. In retail apparel, this has transformed stock accuracy because a full inventory count becomes a walk through the store rather than a night's work. The constraints are equally real. Every tag has a unit cost that printing does not, which restricts its use to products where the value justifies it. Metals and liquids interfere with radio performance and require deliberate tag selection and placement. Reading is probabilistic rather than deterministic, so read rates must be engineered and verified. And bulk readability is not always desirable: the ability to read tags without the holder's knowledge raises privacy considerations that belong in the design, not in a later review. ## NFC Near Field Communication is a short range subset of the same radio family, operating at a distance of a few centimetres and readable by most modern smartphones without any additional hardware. That last property is what distinguishes it. NFC is the only radio carrier a consumer can use unaided, which makes it the natural counterpart to the QR code for consumer facing interactions. A tag can be embedded inside a product rather than printed on it, which keeps the identity intact when packaging is discarded and preserves surfaces where a visible symbol would be unacceptable for design or hygiene reasons. Its trade-offs follow from its strengths. Range is deliberately very short, so it cannot support logistics-style bulk reading. Unit cost exceeds printing. Not every phone has the capability enabled or exposed consistently. And, as with any tag, it can be removed or replaced, so it is a delivery mechanism rather than an authentication mechanism on its own. #### Treating a tag as proof of authenticity A carrier proves that something readable was attached, not that the item is genuine. Counterfeit goods carry perfectly valid-looking symbols and tags routinely. Authentication requires cryptographic features, serialisation with verification against an authoritative record, or both, and it is a separate design problem from carriage. ## Digital Carriers Not every carrier is physical, and this category is growing faster than the others. A product identity increasingly needs to be delivered where there is no package to print on: a listing on a marketplace, a digital receipt, an electronic label on a shelf, a product record exchanged between two systems, a passport reference embedded in a document. In these settings the "carrier" is a structured field, a web address, a machine readable page annotation or a message element. The same discipline applies without modification. The digital carrier holds the identifier; it is not the identity. A product page that embeds a GTIN in structured markup is carrying the identifier in a form search engines and trading systems can read, exactly as a printed symbol carries it in a form scanners can read. The value of doing so is that online and physical records join on the same value rather than on fuzzy matches between product names. Digital carriage also removes the constraint that has shaped physical carriers for fifty years: surface area. Capacity ceases to be the binding limit, which is precisely why the design emphasis moves to the resolver layer, where access control and audience differentiation now do the work that symbol capacity used to constrain. ## Choosing the Right Data Carrier The choice is an engineering decision with commercial consequences, and it is answerable only after the requirement is written down. Six questions settle most cases. **Who must read it?** Consumers with unmodified phones, trained operators with dedicated hardware, or automated systems. This single answer eliminates most options immediately. **Where is it read?** A clean retail counter, a moving conveyor, a warehouse portal, a workshop, a recycling facility years later. **What surface is available?** Available area, curvature, material, and whether a label can be applied at all. **How long must it survive?** A supply chain journey of weeks, or a service life of decades through cleaning, heat and abrasion. **What must it carry?** An identifier alone, or an identifier qualified by batch, serial or expiry data. **What can it cost per unit?** Printing is effectively free; marking and tagging are not. #### Expect to deploy more than one carrier Mature programmes rarely settle on a single technology. A linear barcode for legacy point of sale, a GS1 QR Code for consumers and passports, a Data Matrix on small components, RFID at case level. Multiple carriers are not duplication or indecision, because all of them carry the same identifier. The genuine duplication risk is multiple *identifiers*, not multiple carriers. ## How Data Carriers Support Digital Product Passports Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 establishes the ecodesign framework and requires products in scope to carry a data carrier linked to a unique product identifier, with the specifics set by the applicable [delegated act](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/delegated-act) for each product group. Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 takes a comparable approach for batteries. Three points follow, and each is regularly missed. **The carrier is required, but the technology is not specified in the framework itself.** The legislation states an outcome: a machine readable link between the physical product and its unique identifier. Which technology satisfies that is settled per product group, and sectors with established practice will not converge on one answer. **The carrier must remain readable for the period the obligation applies.** For long-lived products this is a materials and placement problem, not a printing problem. A label that fails after three years does not satisfy an obligation that runs for fifteen, which is what pushes durable categories toward direct marking or embedded tags. **The carrier is the smallest part of the obligation.** A passport also requires maintained data, differentiated access for different actors, and availability over time. A perfectly executed symbol that resolves to nothing satisfies no one. #### Treating passport readiness as a labelling project Adding a symbol is the visible task and the cheap one. The expensive work is assembling accurate product data, keeping it current, deciding who may see which parts of it, and keeping the resolver answering for years. Programmes scoped around artwork discover this late. ## Benefits for Manufacturers Separating identity from carriage lets a manufacturer change packaging, printers, substrates and marking methods without renegotiating identity with anyone downstream. The number stays; the medium moves. It also makes traceability practical at the granularity each stage needs. Case level RFID supports logistics without serialising every consumer unit; a Data Matrix on a component supports field service long after the outer packaging is gone. Recalls narrow from a product line to a production run because the carrier delivered batch data alongside the identifier. And a single consumer facing symbol can replace several campaign-specific ones, because the destination is configured at the resolver rather than printed. ## Benefits for Retailers Retail depends on reading speed and accuracy at enormous volume, and carrier quality is where both are won or lost. Poor print contrast on a fraction of a percent of items is a measurable labour cost across a chain. Two-dimensional carriers add capability at the same touchpoint: expiry data available at the till enables date-based markdown and prevents the sale of expired stock, and richer payloads reduce the need to look items up in a separate system. RFID improves inventory accuracy to a degree that changes what online-to-store fulfilment can promise. And consumer-scannable carriers move product questions from staff to the product itself. ## Benefits for Consumers For consumers, the carrier is the entire interface. Everything else is invisible. A well chosen carrier means a scan that works first time, in poor light, at an awkward angle, on a curved surface, without installing anything. It means reaching information about the item actually in hand rather than a generic category page. It means allergen, safety, repair and recycling information staying reachable after the box has been thrown away, which is exactly the case for embedded tags and directly marked symbols over printed labels. ## Benefits for Regulators For [market surveillance](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/market-surveillance) authorities, a readable carrier converts inspection from paperwork into observation. An inspector can establish product identity at the point of examination, retrieve the applicable declarations and compliance evidence, and confirm which [economic operator](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/economic-operator) is responsible, without relying on documents supplied by the party being inspected. Scope for [corrective action](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/corrective-action) becomes precise, because batch qualifiers delivered by the carrier distinguish affected production runs from unaffected ones. Cross border cooperation becomes practical because both authorities read the same identifier from the same product. ## Comparison of Common Data Carriers The table below compares the main technologies on the dimensions that actually decide selection. Values are indicative and directional rather than exact; specific implementations vary considerably. | Dimension | Linear barcode | QR Code | Data Matrix | RFID | NFC | | ---------------------- | -------------------------------- | -------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | | Capacity | Very low, digits only | High, alphanumeric and addresses | High relative to its size | Moderate, plus a rewritable memory | Moderate, plus a rewritable memory | | Scan distance | Centimetres, line of sight | Centimetres, line of sight | Very close, line of sight | Centimetres to metres, no line of sight | A few centimetres, no line of sight | | Cost per unit | Negligible when printed | Negligible when printed | Low printed, higher when part marked | Material, a physical component per item | Material, a physical component per item | | Durability | Low; damage across bars is fatal | Moderate; error correction helps | High; survives partial damage and marking | High when correctly packaged | High when embedded | | Consumer usability | None in practice | Excellent; any phone camera | Poor; needs a capable reader | None; needs dedicated equipment | Good on most modern phones | | Industrial suitability | Good for retail flows | Good, though area hungry | Excellent for small and harsh items | Excellent for bulk and logistics | Limited by very short range | | Typical applications | Point of sale, cases | Consumer engagement, passports | Healthcare, aerospace, electronics | Apparel retail, warehousing, logistics | In-product identity, tap experiences | Two observations are worth drawing out. First, the columns are not competitors; they occupy different regions of a constraint space, and most mature programmes use several. Second, the row that most often decides the outcome is cost per unit, not capability, because capability differences are usually surmountable and unit economics are not. ## Common Misconceptions **"A QR code is an identifier."** It is a carrier. What it contains is a separate question entirely, and two visually identical symbols may contain wholly unrelated things. **"Different carriers mean different identifiers."** The same identifier can be carried by every technology described here simultaneously, unchanged. **"Two-dimensional carriers make linear barcodes obsolete."** Installed retail infrastructure turns over slowly, and dual marking is the normal transitional approach. **"RFID is always better because it does not need line of sight."** It also costs more per unit, performs poorly near metals and liquids, cannot be read by consumers, and reads probabilistically. **"Adding a carrier makes a product traceable."** The carrier delivers an identifier. Traceability requires records maintained against that identifier by every party who handles the product. **"A scannable tag proves the product is genuine."** Carriers are copyable. Authentication is a separate design problem. **"GS1 Digital Link is a type of QR code."** It is an encoding standard that defines what is written into a carrier. It can be represented in several symbologies. **"The passport requirement is satisfied by printing a symbol."** The symbol is the visible fraction. Maintained data, access control and durability are the obligation. ## Frequently Asked Questions #### What is the difference between an identifier and a data carrier? The identifier is the value that identifies the product, such as a GTIN. The data carrier is the physical or digital means of holding and delivering that value, such as a barcode, QR code, Data Matrix, RFID tag or NFC tag. One identity can be carried by many carriers at once, and changing the carrier never changes the identity. #### Can the same GTIN appear in several carriers on one product? Yes, and it commonly should. A linear barcode for point of sale, a GS1 QR Code for consumers and passports, a Data Matrix on a small component and an RFID tag at case level can all carry the same GTIN. Multiple carriers are not duplication; multiple identifiers would be. #### Is a QR code enough for a Digital Product Passport? A QR code can serve as the required data carrier, but the requirement is a carrier linked to a unique product identifier, together with maintained and accessible information behind it. What is encoded, whether it follows a recognised standard, and what the identifier resolves to matter more than the symbol itself. The applicable delegated act settles the specifics for each product group. #### When should Data Matrix be used instead of a QR code? When the available marking area is very small, when the mark must be applied directly into the material rather than printed on a label, or when the item must survive conditions that would destroy a printed substrate. Its trade-off is consumer usability: ordinary phone cameras handle QR codes far more reliably. #### What is the difference between RFID and NFC? NFC is a short range subset of the same radio family, working over a few centimetres and readable by most modern smartphones. General RFID works at longer ranges and supports reading many tags at once, but requires dedicated equipment. NFC suits consumer interactions; RFID suits logistics and inventory. #### Do digital carriers replace physical ones? No. They extend the same principle to contexts with no physical surface, such as marketplace listings, structured product data exchanges and electronic documents. Physical products still need physical carriers, and the identifier is the same in both worlds. #### Where should a team start? Write down who must read the identity, where, under what physical conditions, for how long and at what unit cost. Confirm the identifier and encoding standard first. Only then select carriers, and validate them on production substrate with the readers that will really be used. ## Key Takeaways * A data carrier delivers an identifier. It is never the identity, and calling it one causes concrete design failures. - The same identifier can be carried simultaneously by barcode, QR code, Data Matrix, RFID, NFC and digital fields. - Encoding standards, not carriers, determine whether a payload is interoperable; a GS1 QR Code and an arbitrary QR code look identical and behave differently. - Carrier selection follows six questions: who reads it, where, on what surface, for how long, carrying what, at what cost. - Most mature programmes deploy several carriers; that is normal and is not duplication. - Digital Product Passport rules require a carrier linked to a unique product identifier, without naming a technology. - Durability over the full obligation period is a materials decision, not a printing decision. - A carrier proves something readable was attached, not that the product is genuine or that data behind it exists. ## Related Articles * [QR Codes vs GS1 Digital Link: What's the Difference?](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/qr-codes-vs-gs1-digital-link) * [What is a GTIN?](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/what-is-a-gtin) * [What is GS1 Digital Link?](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/what-is-gs1-digital-link) * [What is GS1?](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/what-is-gs1) * [How Product Data Moves Through the Supply Chain](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/how-product-data-moves-through-the-supply-chain) * [What is EPCIS?](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/what-is-epcis) * [How Does a Digital Product Passport Work?](/docs/knowledge-base/digital-product-passports/how-does-a-digital-product-passport-work) * [How Will Digital Product Passports Change Product Compliance?](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/how-will-digital-product-passports-change-product-compliance) ## Related Glossary Terms Definitions of record for the terms used above live in the [glossary](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/overview). * [Data Carrier](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/data-carrier) * [QR Code](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/qr-code) * [Product Identifier](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/product-identifier) * [GS1](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/gs1) * [GS1 Digital Link](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/gs1-digital-link) * [Digital Product Passport](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/digital-product-passport) * [Product Data](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/product-data) * [Product Traceability](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/product-traceability) * [Product Lifecycle](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/product-lifecycle) * [Economic Operator](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/economic-operator) * [Market Surveillance](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/market-surveillance) * [Conformity Assessment](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/conformity-assessment) * [Delegated Act](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/delegated-act) * [ESPR](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/espr) * [Sustainability Data](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/sustainability-data) * [Circular Economy](/docs/knowledge-base/glossary/circular-economy) ## References * GS1 barcodes, the primary reference for GS1 data carriers: [https://www.gs1.org/standards/barcodes](https://www.gs1.org/standards/barcodes) * GS1 General Specifications, defining data carriers, symbol placement, quality and application identifiers: [https://www.gs1.org/standards/barcodes-epcrfid-id-keys/gs1-general-specifications](https://www.gs1.org/standards/barcodes-epcrfid-id-keys/gs1-general-specifications) * GS1 two-dimensional barcodes, covering GS1 QR Code and GS1 DataMatrix: [https://www.gs1.org/standards/barcodes/2d](https://www.gs1.org/standards/barcodes/2d) * GS1 Digital Link standard, expressing identification keys as structured web addresses: [https://www.gs1.org/standards/gs1-digital-link](https://www.gs1.org/standards/gs1-digital-link) * GS1 EPC/RFID standards, covering radio frequency identification in supply chains: [https://www.gs1.org/standards/rfid](https://www.gs1.org/standards/rfid) * GS1 identification keys, including the GTIN: [https://www.gs1.org/standards/id-keys](https://www.gs1.org/standards/id-keys) * GS1, the global standards organisation: [https://www.gs1.org](https://www.gs1.org) * International Organization for Standardization, ISO/IEC 18004 on QR Code bar code symbology: [https://www.iso.org/standard/83389.html](https://www.iso.org/standard/83389.html) * International Organization for Standardization, ISO/IEC 16022 on Data Matrix bar code symbology: [https://www.iso.org/standard/80926.html](https://www.iso.org/standard/80926.html) * International Organization for Standardization, ISO/IEC 15420 on EAN/UPC bar code symbology: [https://www.iso.org/standard/84892.html](https://www.iso.org/standard/84892.html) * International Organization for Standardization, ISO/IEC 15459 on unique identification: [https://www.iso.org/standard/54779.html](https://www.iso.org/standard/54779.html) * International Organization for Standardization, ISO/IEC 18000-63 on RFID air interface parameters: [https://www.iso.org/standard/78309.html](https://www.iso.org/standard/78309.html) * International Organization for Standardization: [https://www.iso.org](https://www.iso.org) * Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for sustainable products, including the Digital Product Passport, unique product identifier and data carrier provisions, Official Journal of the European Union: [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1781/oj) * Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 concerning batteries and waste batteries, including battery passport provisions, Official Journal of the European Union: [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1542/oj](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1542/oj) * Regulation (EU) 2017/745 on medical devices, including unique device identification carrier requirements, Official Journal of the European Union: [https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2017/745/oj](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2017/745/oj) * European Commission, Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation: [https://commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation\_en](https://commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en) * EUR-Lex, official portal for European Union law: [https://eur-lex.europa.eu](https://eur-lex.europa.eu) ## About This Article About This Article
Last Reviewed
2026-08-07
Next Scheduled Review
2027-08-07
Article Version
1.0
tieback Knowledge is a continuously maintained reference library covering Digital Product Passports, product traceability, product compliance and related regulations. Articles are reviewed regularly as legislation, standards and implementation guidance evolve. ## Related Docs * [Standards & Technology](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/overview) * [What is a GTIN?](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/what-is-a-gtin) * [What is a Product Identifier?](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/what-is-a-product-identifier) * [What is GS1 Digital Link?](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/what-is-gs1-digital-link) * [QR Codes vs GS1 Digital Link: What's the Difference?](/docs/knowledge-base/standards-and-technology/qr-codes-vs-gs1-digital-link) * [What is a Digital Product Passport?](/docs/knowledge-base/digital-product-passports/what-is-a-digital-product-passport) * [How Digital Product Passports Will Be Enforced](/docs/knowledge-base/regulations/how-digital-product-passports-will-be-enforced) * [Building an Enterprise Digital Product Passport Architecture](/docs/knowledge-base/enterprise-systems-and-data-architecture/building-an-enterprise-digital-product-passport-architecture) * [How to Build a Digital Product Passport Implementation Roadmap](/docs/knowledge-base/implementation/how-to-build-a-digital-product-passport-implementation-roadmap)