I have discovered an error in a product passport that is already online what now

Correcting an error is possible, and must also be done

Correcting an error in a published digital product passport is the normal course of action, not an incident that must be kept hidden. The ESPR assumes that the data in the passport remain accurate in relation to the product data, and this aligns with what is laid down in Article 10 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) regarding requirements for the digital product passport: the information must be accurate. An error that remains after it has been discovered is a different problem than the error itself — that is the moment when it can shift from "mistake" to "negligence". Correcting as soon as it becomes apparent is therefore the core of the answer: not waiting, not weighing whether it is worth the effort, but having the data adjusted.

Which errors this applies to, and which it does not

This concerns errors in the content of a passport that has already been published and linked to a product: an incorrect value, an incorrect component, an outdated certificate, a repair instruction that is no longer accurate. This is a different situation from a passport that is not yet online — there a mistake is simply a matter of correcting it before it goes out the door, without anything needing to be "repaired". It is also a different situation from doubt about which data should actually be included; those seeking clarification on whether particular data is mandatory or not will find that overview in which data will be included in the digital product passport of products. And it is something entirely different from a discussion about the measurement method itself — if the value has been correctly calculated according to the prescribed method but still has an undesirable outcome, that is not an "error" in the sense of this article but a question about the method by which values must be measured.

This does not concern data that have been deliberately restricted for certain target groups — a value that a repair technician sees but a consumer does not is not an error but a matter of access rights, with a logic that stands separate from this question.

There is no correction deadline in the text, but rather an ongoing obligation

The ESPR specifies no particular deadline within which an error in a published passport must be corrected. What is clear: the obligation to display accurate, up-to-date and complete information is not a snapshot at publication, but something that continues to apply as long as the passport is active. This follows from the same Article 10 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781), and it aligns with the logic behind data maintenance in general — how often and at what time data must be updated is described in how current the data in the product passport must be. Until the moment of correction, therefore, inaccurate information remains online, and that is precisely the period in which the risk lies: not in the fact that the error was ever made, but in the time during which it remains visible and uncorrected.

How this is handled in practice

First, it is established what exactly is wrong: an incorrect value, an incorrectly linked document, a typo in an identification number, or something structural such as an incorrect product category classification. This distinction determines how extensive the correction is — a typo is different from an error that suggests the underlying measurement is not correct.

Then it is checked whether the error stands alone or whether it also affects other passports, for example when the same incorrect value has been used for an entire product line. With repeated errors, the cause often lies not in the passport but in the process behind it — the measurement, the data source, or the way data are transferred from internal systems.

Subsequently, the correction is made in the passport itself, without changing the QR data carrier or the link with the product: the code remains the same, only the content behind it is adjusted. This is also immediately the reason why a digital product passport is more practical than a printed document — the information is corrected at the place where it exists, not by distributing a new copy.

After that, it is necessary to check whether the error has had consequences outside the passport itself: for example, has communication been made to a customer, a business partner, or in advertising based on the incorrect value? That is a separate question, separate from the correction in the passport.

Finally, it is recorded when and why the correction was made. Not because that is now already required in writing for this precise situation, but because a trail of "what did I know, when, and what did I do with it" is in virtually every supervisory framework the basis on which a distinction is made between a mistake and negligence.

The legal basis: Article 10, in conjunction with Article 40

Article 10 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) sets the substantive requirements for the digital product passport, including that the data must be accurate — that is the basis on which an error is an error in the first place. Article 9 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781) describes what the passport as a whole is and how it must function, which is relevant once an error does not stand alone but points to a problem in the structure of the passport. Article 40 of the ESPR (Regulation (EU) 2024/1781), on the prevention of circumvention and performance degradation, is relevant in the case that an "error" on closer inspection was not a mistake but a value that was deliberately presented as more favorable than reality — that is a different order of things than a typo, and is also assessed differently. Article 39, on test, measurement and calculation methods, is the background against which it is assessed whether a value that seems "wrong" really is, or whether it is the result of a correctly applied method.

If someone has now found an error, it is best to first locate it — which data, in which passport, since when — and then have the correction made via the party hosting the passport, without changing the QR code or product link. In case of doubt as to whether it is an error or a methodological matter, the official text of the ESPR via the legal basis above has the final word.