Making it easier to make responsible purchasing decisions sounds like a good idea, doesn't it? For consumers and professional purchasing decisions alike.
That is the underlying purpose by the European Union behind the upcoming regulation for products sold in the EU to be accompanied by digital product passports (DPP). Boosting availability of data on sources, environmental impact, circularity and reparability of products.
We think that is a great initiative....for roughly 19 our of 20 products.
"Why not the 20th?", you may wonder.
Because it's likely to be counterfeit. Fake.
A copy of a true original or just any product with a fake logo applied.
What about DPP for fake products?
According to European authorities at least 5% of all products sold in the European Union are fake in some way. 1 in 20.
Of course, the criminals who make fake products won't hesitate to equip them with copied QR-codes to lead you to the original DPP. Authentic data for a fake product, misleading you regarding sources, environmental impact, circularity and repairs. Would it be fair to guess that the fake product doesn't perform better than the original on any of those points?
What will be the consequences of us using invalid data for those "responsible purchasing decisions"?
For every 20th purchase, on average?
The remedy: product authentication!
Therefore, we strongly recommend to integrate product authentication in the DPP-process. First, make sure the product is authentic, then provide the digital product passport.
Using isAuthentic, product authentication is made both easy and effective.
Nothing to add to the product, no advanced equipment needed to authenticate, just a smartphone camera and conditions sufficient for a selfie. The authentication process can be integrated into the DPP-retrieval process, adding no effort for the consumer. Just making sure you can rely on the data being applicable to the item in front of you.
Read here about how isAuthentic works.
Would you consider it sufficient if every 20th passport was a forgery? Would Immigration Authorities do?
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