Frequently asked questions

The GS1 Digital Link is an international standard that links a product URL to the GTIN - the number behind the classic barcode on retail products. Instead of a proprietary QR code, the DPP thus contains a standardised URL that can be resolved by any GS1-compatible system.

Not every product has or needs such a code. If you already use GTINs, Transpareo integrates them into the URL automatically. If not, Transpareo assigns its own unique identifier - a GS1 code or GTIN is not a prerequisite for getting started.

Why we build on this standard is set out in Why GS1 Digital Link is the right standard for DPPs.

Yes. Transpareo offers a full REST API for bidirectional data exchange. You can create products and components programmatically, synchronise DPP data from your ERP or PIM, export analytics data into your CRM or data warehouse and integrate data via JSON.

The full API documentation is publicly accessible - no sign-up required.

The interface is versioned. An integration you build today keeps working while we develop the platform.

Yes. Every workspace answers the Model Context Protocol at its own address, something like https://dpp.example.com/mcp. You enter that address in Claude, ChatGPT, Grok or Gemini, sign in and grant access; there is nothing to install. The assistant can then read what a passport requires, check it, create it and publish it.

The consent screen names every permission separately, and none of them reaches further than the account it was granted with. You can try it without an account in our demo. More on this: Transpareo in the agentic age.

Excel (.xlsx), CSV and JSON. You upload an existing product catalogue directly; the system recognises the columns and maps them onto the fields of the passport.

That means the data can come from practically any system it sits in today: whatever exports as a table from an ERP, PIM, PLM or a database can be read in here. You choose which fields belong in the passport - not the whole record travels, only what the passport needs. For a permanent, automatic feed, take the API instead of the file.

That depends on the volume, and in no case is it a major IT project. There are three routes:

• Small inventories: fill in the Excel template, upload it, have it checked, publish. You do not need anyone from IT for that.
• Medium volumes: JSON bulk upload with a validation report that names every row it objects to.
• Large volumes and continuous synchronisation: the REST API with a versioned interface. The OpenAPI description and example calls are openly available in the API documentation.

The effort is almost always decided by how complete and structured your product data is today - not by the interface. A guide to building your own interface is in ERP integration in two weeks.

You connect your own domain, for example dpp.example.com. We show you which DNS entry to create during setup, with your own values already filled in, ready to copy. The platform then checks by itself whether the entry has arrived, and the note on your dashboard disappears once the domain is live.

Logo, colours and company name you then set yourself. Your customers see exclusively your branding - no reference to Transpareo. What a branded site can look like is on the demo website; how it is made in the application manager is on the demo page.

Hardly anyone ever sees that start page, by the way: scanning the QR code on a product lands a visitor straight on the product passport, not on the start page. We still make it look right, for anyone who types your address by hand or clicks through from a passport.

All data is hosted in ISO-27001-certified data centres in Germany and processed in a GDPR-compliant way. Every customer gets an isolated data environment. Backups are encrypted and stored in a separate data centre.

No. Tamper resistance comes from the signature, not from where the record is stored. Every published version carries a W3C-standard signature that any browser can check directly, with no consortium and no special network.

A blockchain guarantees that a record, once entered, stays unchanged. It does not guarantee that the record is correct: under the ESPR that is the economic operator’s responsibility. How the signatures work is in signatures and certificates in the DPP.

With Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) you run your own signing endpoint - the private key never leaves your infrastructure and is at no point held by Transpareo. Transpareo merely adds an independent counter-signature, so that every DPP version carries two separate authorities. The associated public keys are published per issuer under /.well-known/dpp-keys/ and can thus be verified by any third party. What such a check looks like you can try for yourself in the verifier.

Yes, on the technical side. Transpareo is continuously adapted to the EU delegated acts: the platform supports all currently defined DPP data fields, and we add new requirements as they come into force. Standardised data fields, register-compatible interfaces, validated formats and a complete change log are ours to deliver - you do not have to worry about them.

Responsibility for the accuracy of the content stays, under the ESPR, with the economic operator placing the product on the market. That is how the law is written and it applies to every platform: we supply the infrastructure with which you meet the requirements; the statements about your product are yours.

Which standard we meet, and how, is listed one by one in Standard by standard.

Yes. Transpareo is fully GDPR-compliant. All personal data (e.g. from lead generation) is processed and stored in European data centres. We provide a data processing agreement (DPA) and support you in fulfilling your data protection obligations. Who processes what is set out in our privacy policy, including the sub-processors involved.

That depends on your industry and product category. In general, the mandatory data comprises:

• Product identification (GTIN, model, manufacturer)
• Material composition and origin
• Environmental information (carbon footprint, recyclability)
• Repair and disposal instructions
• Declarations of conformity and certificates

Transpareo provides industry-specific templates that cover all mandatory fields.

What your industry requires in detail is on its page in the industries reference.

Batteries from 18 February 2027 under the Batteries Regulation, construction products and metals expected from 2028, textiles, furniture and tyres from 2029, toys from 1 August 2030. Cosmetics and food already carry sector-specific information duties today that a product passport serves. For each of the fourteen industries our industries reference lists the timeline, the roles, the required data and the official documents.

The EU regulation provides for sanctions that are set by the member states. These can include fines, sales and import bans as well as the recall of non-compliant products. The exact sanctions vary by member state and are currently being specified. Early preparation is therefore advisable - what the obligation costs, set against what a breach costs, is worked out in What the DPP obligation really costs.

Yes. Although the DPP obligation primarily concerns the EU market, you can use Transpareo for other markets too. The Digital Product Passport is an excellent marketing tool, independent of regulatory requirements. In addition, the USA, the UK and further countries are working on similar regulations. More on this: one DPP for the EU and China.

Not yet, as of September 2026: the EU register foresees no role for service providers at all, and there is no admission procedure to apply to. As soon as there is one we will apply; the papers are ready. Whether the Commission lists us is its decision.

Nothing about your work depends on it: you create and publish passports as usual, and registering in the EU register is yours to do as the economic operator in any case. What the draft proposes is in what the Commission draft proposes.

Technically, not contractually. Once a product passport is entered in the EU register, every published version moves into a write-protected archive in the EU: for ten years nobody can delete or overwrite it, ourselves included.

If you publish passports before an obligation applies to your product group, no archive arises. Registration is what switches retention on. Why a passport has to outlive its issuer is in Trust that outlives the product.

Market surveillance and inspection authorities receive their own read key, limited to specified manufacturers, separate from your own API keys. Every access is logged in an audit log. The DPP URLs remain stable - even if you, as the manufacturer, cancel your contract. Once your DPPs are registered with the EU register, the immutable Vault copy of every DPP version additionally survives your cancellation and remains reachable for authorities via their own read key. How one passport shows different readers different slices without losing its signature is covered in Disclosure without losing the signature.

Even our ownership structure is designed for the long term: 51 per cent of Transpareo AG is held by the non-profit Transpareo Foundation in Zug, Switzerland. A foundation cannot sell off its assets - the majority of the company can therefore never change owner, and the long-term continued existence of Transpareo is structurally secured.

The DPP obligation affects you as a manufacturer over ten years and more. And even in the unlikely event that Transpareo were one day to no longer exist, your DPPs survive - four concrete building blocks ensure this:

• Data export at any time: you can export your data in CSV, XLSX, JSON-LD and SQL - automated via API if needed.
• Stable, permanent DPP URLs: the URL of a DPP does not change even across version changes. When changing provider you can redirect the URL to another platform via GS1 Digital Link resolvers.
• Ten years of immutable Vault archive: once your DPPs are registered with the EU register, every published DPP version is additionally written to a separate, write-protected archive and retained for ten years - independently of the running platform. Neither you nor Transpareo can change it afterwards; the copy survives even a cancellation and remains reachable for authorities.
• Transpareo Time Machine: our open-source DPP renderer under GPL v3 displays every published DPP version in the browser and verifies the signature there. You can host the bundle yourself and run it against the archived bytes - the renderer remains operational even if the Transpareo platform disappears.