EP4649440A2

EP4649440A2 - Reverse tracking

Info

Publication number: EP4649440A2
Application number: EP24741423.8A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Gabriele ECKARDT; Juergen Seitz
Original assignee: BASF SE
Current assignee: BASF SE
Priority date: 2023-01-09
Filing date: 2024-01-08
Publication date: 2025-11-19
Also published as: CN120476414A; WO2024150106A3; WO2024150106A2; KR20250135813A; JP2026503280A

Abstract

Disclosed are methods for authorizing access to reverse tracking data by a chemical producer, the method comprising the steps of: providing at least one authorization rule associated with the chemical product, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the chemical prod- uct producer to product data generated in relation to the production of the product using the chemical product and/or usage of the product produced using the chemical product, generating tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the chemical product by applying the at least one authorization rule to the product data, and providing the tracking data to a data providing service of the product producer and/or product user for access by a data consuming service of the chemical product producer.

Description

REVERSE TRACKING

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to a method for reverse tracking a chemical product, an apparatus for reverse tracking a chemical product, a method for accessing reverse tracking data associated with a chemical product, an apparatus for accessing tracking data associated with a chemical product, a data providing service of a product producer or user configured to process tracking data, a data consuming service of a chemical product producer configured to process tracking data, use of tracking data associated with a chemical product, and a computer element.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

Chemical products are used in diverse applications and end up in multiple supply chains to produce a diversity of products. Application properties of chemical products are not available to chemical producers. Chemical producers are hence hampered to improve chemical products in accordance with their real-life application properties.

SUMMARY

In one aspect disclosed is a method for reverse tracking a chemical product through a production and/or lifecycle chain of a product produced based on or using the chemical product or during production of a product using the chemical product and/or usage of the product produced using the chemical product, the method comprising the steps: providing at least one authorization rule associated with the chemical product, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the chemical product producer to product data associated with at least one property related to the use of the chemical product, generating tracking data by applying the authorization rule to the product data e.g. of the product producer or product user, and providing the tracking data to a data providing service of the product producer or product user for access by a data consuming service of the chemical product producer e.g. for direct or indirect access. In another aspect disclosed is a method for authorizing access to reverse tracking data by a chemical producer preferably via a decentral network, the method comprising the steps of: providing at least one authorization rule associated with the chemical product, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the chemical product producer to product data associated with at least one property related to the use of the chemical product, wherein the authorization rule includes at least one event trigger and one or more instruction(s) configured to generate tracking data from the product data and to provide the tracking data.

In another aspect disclosed is a method for reverse tracking a chemical product through a production and/or lifecycle chain of a product produced based on or using the chemical product or during production of a product using the chemical product and/or usage of the product produced using the chemical product, the method comprising the steps: providing at least one authorization rule associated with the chemical product, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the chemical product producer to product data generated in relation to the production and/or life cycle chain of the product or to the production of a product using the chemical product and/or the usage of the product produced using the chemical product, generating tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the chemical product by applying the at least one authorization rule to the product data, and providing the tracking data to a data providing service of the product producer and/or product user for access by a data consuming service of the chemical product producer.

In another a method for authorizing access to reverse tracking data by a chemical producer, the method comprising the steps of: providing at least one authorization rule associated with the chemical product, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the chemical product producer to product data generated in relation to production and/or life cycle chain or production of a product using the chemical product and/or usage of the product produced using the chemical product, wherein the at least one authorization rule includes at least one event trigger and one or more instruction(s) configured to generate tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the chemical product from the product data and configured to provide the tracking data.

In another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for reverse tracking a chemical product through a production and/or lifecycle chain of a product produced based on or using the chemical product or during production of a product using the chemical product and/or usage of the product produced using the chemical product, the apparatus comprising: an authorization provider configured to provide at least one authorization rule associated with the chemical product, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the chemical product producer to product data associated with at least one property related to the use of the chemical product, a tracking data generator configured to generate tracking data by applying the at least one authorization rule to the product data e.g. of the product producer or product user, and a tracking data provider configured to provide the tracking data to a data providing service of the product producer or product user for access by a data consuming service of the chemical product producer, e.g. direct or indirect access.

The apparatus comprising: one or more computing nodes; and one or more computer- readable media having thereon computer-executable instructions that are structured such that, when executed by the one or more computing nodes, cause the apparatus to perform the following steps:

In another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for authorizing access to reverse tracking data by a chemical producer preferably via a decentral network, the of the apparatus being configured to provide at least one authorization rule associated with the chemical product, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the chemical product producer to product data associated with at least one property related to the use of the chemical product, wherein the authorization rule includes at least one event trigger and one or more instruction(s) to generate tracking data from the product data and to provide the tracking data. In another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for authorizing access to reverse tracking data by a chemical producer preferably via a decentral network, the apparatus being configured to provide at least one authorization rule associated with the chemical product, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the chemical product producer to product data generated in relation to production and/or life cycle chain or production of a product using the chemical product and/or usage of the product produced using the chemical product, wherein the at least one authorization rule includes at least one event trigger and one or more instruction(s) configured to generate tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the chemical product from the product data and configured to provide the tracking data.

In another aspect disclosed is a method for accessing reverse tracking data associated with a chemical product including the step of receiving the tracking data provided according to any of the methods disclosed or as provided by any of the apparatuses disclosed herein at a data consuming service of a chemical product producer.

In another aspect disclosed is an apparatus for accessing reverse tracking data associated with a chemical product configured to receive the tracking data provided by any of the apparatuses or any of the methods disclosed herein or as provided by any of the apparatuses disclosed herein at a data consuming service of a chemical product producer.

In another aspect disclosed is a data providing service of a product producer, a data providing service of a product producer and/or a product user or a data consuming service of a chemical product producer configured to process tracking data as provided according any of the methods disclosed herein or as provided by any of the apparatuses disclosed herein.

In another aspect disclosed is the use of tracking data associated with a chemical product as provided according any of the methods or apparatuses disclosed herein or as provided by any of the apparatuses disclosed herein for adapting a chemical product, a chemical product property, a chemical product composition, a chemical product performance and/or for producing chemical products with an adapted property. In another aspect disclosed is a chemical product associated with a chemical product passport including at least one authorization rule for reverse tracking the chemical product as provided according any of the methods or apparatuses disclosed herein.

In another aspect disclosed is a chemical product passport including at least one authorization rule for reverse tracking a chemical product as provided according any of the methods or apparatuses disclosed herein.

In another aspect disclosed is at least one authorization rule configured to provide access for a chemical product producer to product data associated with at least one property related to the use of the chemical product preferably via a decentral network, wherein the authorization rule includes at least one event trigger and one or more instructions) to generate tracking data from the product data and/or to provide the tracking data.

In another aspect disclosed is at least one authorization rule configured to provide access for a chemical product producer to product data generated in relation to production or lifecycle cycle of the product or production of the product using the chemical product and/or usage of the product produced using the chemical product, preferably via a decentral network, wherein the authorization rule includes at least one event trigger and one or more instruction(s) to generate tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the chemical product from the product data and/or to provide the tracking data.

In another aspect the present disclosure relates to a computer element, such as a computer program or computer readable medium, with instructions, which when executed on one or more computing node(s) e.g. of a decentral network is configured to carry out the steps of the method(s) disclosed herein or is configured to be carried out by the apparatuses) disclosed herein.

Any disclosure, embodiments and examples described herein relate to the methods, the systems, apparatuses, chemical products, chemical product passports, authorization rules, uses and computer elements lined out above and below. Advantageously, the benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples equally apply to all other embodiments and examples.

EMBODIMENTS

To improve application properties of chemical products, reverse tracking of chemical products in product applications and the resulting products produced based on the chemical product is advantageous. For such tracking a simplified and customized data exchange reverse to the chemical product supply chains may be advantageous. Utilizing decentral data ecosystems, that allow for secure peer-to-peer data exchange, enables simplified and customized data exchange.

In particular, by providing at least one authorization rule reverse tracking of the chemical product and its application properties in different product supply chains is possible.

Such reverse tracking or data feedback from the chemical product may be customized via the authorization rule. This way the data exchange may be tailored to product data that allows to improve application properties of the chemical product for specific applications and enables improvement of chemical products for specific uses.

In the following, embodiments of the present disclosure will be outlined by ways of examples. It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to said embodiments and/or examples.

In one embodiment one or more authorization rule(s) may be associated with a decentral identifier and data related to the chemical product data. The authorization rule(s) may include instructions configured for reverse data tracking of the chemical product used to produce the product. The authorization rule(s) may include data transaction instructions or data transaction protocols, such as data usage policies, decentral applications, smart data contracts or other data processing instructions associated with data providing and/or data consuming services of the decentral network. Through the authorization rule(s) data access and data usage by data consuming services can be controlled in a secure manner. In another embodiment the at least one authorization rule relates to instruction(s), which based on the at least one event trigger process product data specified by the authorization rule to generate and to provide tracking data. The authorization rule may relate to or include at least one event trigger related to the use of the chemical product for producing the product. The use may include any processing of the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or the data related to the chemical product. For example, concatenating or linking the decentral identifier associated with the product produced based on the chemical product and the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or the data related to the chemical product may be the event trigger specified by the authorization rule.

In another embodiment the at least one authorization rule relates to at least one event trigger related to the use of the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or of the data related to the chemical product. The authorization rule may relate to or include instruction(s) based on the at least one event trigger. The event trigger for reverse tracking of chemical products may relate to one or more processing steps related to the decentral identifier and/or the data related to the chemical product data. The event trigger may trigger or initialize instructions to generate tracking data from product data for providing tracking data.

In another embodiment the authorization rule relates to a specification of tracking data based on product data associated with the product produced using or based on the chemical product. The authorization rule may specify tracking data based on product data associated with the product produced using or based on the chemical product. The authorization rule may specify tracking data to be derived from product data associated with the product produced using or based on the chemical product. The authorization rule may relate.

The decentral network may include participant nodes configured to perform data transactions. The participant nodes may be associated with producers or user of physical products, such as chemical product producers, intermediate product producers, end product producers or end product users. The data transactions may be based on a transaction protocol including authentication and/or authorization mechanism(s). Based on the authentication and/or authorization mechanism(s) a peer-to-peer network between participant nodes of the decentral network may be established.

The one or more authentication mechanism(s) may be associated with or linked to the decentral identifier. The one or more authentication mechanism(s) associated with the decentral identifier may be provided to participant node(s). The one or more authentication mechanism(s) associated with the decentral identifier may be accessible by the data providing service and/or the data consuming service. The decentral configuration allows for more efficient use of computing resources and strengthens control by each data owner of the decentral network.

The one or more authorization mechanism(s) may include at least one authorization rule for reverse data tracking of chemical products used to produce products. The participant nodes of the decentral network may be configured to provide data consuming service(s) and/or data providing service(s). A data providing service may be configured to provide or send data to another participant node of the decentral network. A data consuming service may be configured to ingest or receive data from another participant node of the decentral network. Providing data to a data providing service for access by a data consuming service may include indirect or direct access of the data consuming service to the data.

The chemical product may be produced by a chemical product producer. The chemical product may be the physical entity of the produced chemical product. The chemical product data may be collected before, during or after production of the chemical product. The chemical product data may be generated by the chemical product producer. The chemical product data may be associated with the produced chemical product or properties of the produced chemical product. The chemical product data may be provided to the decentral network by the participant node associated with the chemical product producer. The chemical product data may be provided to the decentral network by the data providing service of the chemical product producer.

The chemical product may be used to produce the product. The product produced using the chemical product may be an intermediate product or an end product. The product may be produced through a production including one or more production steps. The product may be used by a product user. The usage of the product may relate to the lifecycle of the product.

The chemical product, the intermediate product and/or the end product may be related to one or more decentral identifier(s) signifying the digital twin of the physical entity of such product entities. The decentral identifier may be a digital identifier of or for the decentral network. The decentral identifier may be a digital identifier provided to the decentral network and participant nodes of the decentral network. The decentral identifier may hence signify physical entities of products in the decentral network and participant nodes may be able to interpret the relation of the decentral identifier to the physical entities of products.

Through a production chain of the product produced based on or using the chemical product may relate to during production of the product using the chemical product. The production chain may include multiple production processes related to different production stages of the production chain leading to the product. The product may be a discrete product produced by using the chemical product in at least one production step manufacturing the product. The product may be manufactured through one or more production stages associated with different intermediate and/or chemical producers. The production stages may be controlled by intermediate and/or chemical producer. The chemical product may relate to a non-discrete product. The chemical product may be produced through continuous manufacturing or batch manufacturing. The chemical product may be provided continuously or in batches. The chemical product may be used to produce the product. The chemical product may be provided to the production process of the product or any intermediate as input. The products and/or intermediate may be produced from the chemical product. The chemical product may be chemically, thermally, and/or mechanically converted for manufacturing the intermediate and/or the product. The chemical product may be provided to the production process of the product or any intermediate as input to manufacture discrete products. The production process may comprise multiple production stages, such as chemical production process, intermediate production process and/or product production process. The production processes may be distributed across different manufacturers producing the chemical product, the intermediate and/or the product. Multiple chemical products, intermediates and/or products may be manufactured in the production chain of the product. The lifecycle chain of the product may relate to the usage of the product produced using the chemical product. The lifecycle chain may for example include the use of the product by an end user. An example is a foam mattress. The intermediate - in this example the foam - may be produced by reacting chemical components. Pll foam for example may be produced by reacting diisocyanates and polyols. The intermediate, in this example the foam, is a discretization produced using the chemical product. The discrete manufacturing of the product - in this case the mattress - my follow. The product may be produced by using discrete manufacturing. The product - in this example the mattress - may be used by an end user e.g. to sleep on. The end user may provide feedback regarding the comfort or degradation of the product - such as the mattress. This may relate to product data collected during the life cycle or on usage of the product - in this example the mattress.

The product, such as the intermediate or end product, may be associated with product data. The product data may be associated with the product, the use of the chemical product, the application of the chemical product or the chemical product’s use to produce the product. The product data may relate or include properties of the chemical product in association with its use to produce the product. The product data may relate or include properties of the product in association with the use of the chemical product to produce the product. The product data may relate to a product type the chemical product is used for or in, product identifier(s) such as decentral identifier(s) associated with the product, performance data associated with the chemical product contained in the product, the chemical product’s use to produce the product or combinations thereof. The product data may include application data associated with application properties of the chemical product contained in the product, application properties of the product produced with or from the chemical product or combinations thereof. The product data may be generated or collected before, during or after production of the product. The product data may be generated collected before, during or after the lifecycle of the product. The product data may be generated by the product producer or product user. The product may be any intermediate or end product produced by any intermediate or end product producer or product user, respectively. The product data may be associated with the produced product or properties of the produced product. The product data may be associated with the produced intermediate or end product or properties of the produced intermediate or end product. The product data may be intermediate or end product data as generated by the intermediate or end product producer or user, respectively. The end product data may be generated by the product user. The product data may be provided to the decentral network by the participant node associated with the product producer or product user, such as the intermediate or end product producer or user. The product data may be provided to the decentral network by the data providing service of the product producer or product user. The product data may be associated with properties of the chemical product used to produce the product or at least one property related to the use of the chemical product.

In an embodiment the at least one authorization rule is related to a decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or data related to the chemical product data. The at least one authorization rule may be provided in connection with the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or the data related to chemical product data. The data related to the chemical product data may include or be connected to a digital representation(s) pointing to chemical product data or parts thereof. The data related to the chemical product data may include or be connected to the chemical product data or parts thereof.

The decentral identifier may be uniquely associated with the chemical product or the physical entity of the chemical product, e.g. as packaged for transportation to the consumer of the chemical product. The data related to chemical product data may include one or more digital representation(s) pointing to chemical product data or part(s) thereof. The digital representation may comprise at least one interface to a data providing service. The digital representation may include at least one interface to a data consuming service. It may include an endpoint for data exchange or sharing (resource endpoint) or an endpoint for service interaction (service endpoint), that is uniquely identified via the data transaction protocol. The digital representation(s) pointing to chemical product data or parts thereof may be uniquely associated with the decentral identifier. The decentral identifier may be connected to the digital representation of the chemical product data.

In another embodiment the at least one authorization rule is provided as part of a chemical product passport including the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or data related to chemical product. The chemical product passport may comprise or be connected to the digital representation of the chemical product data. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the chemical product data or part thereof. The digital representation may include a representation of the chemical product data, such as a hash. The chemical product passport may include the decentral identifier. The chemical product passport may include or be connected to the authentication information and/or the authorization rule. The chemical product passport may include or be connected to data related to the chemical product data.

In another embodiment the at least one authorization rule is provided by an authorization management system, wherein the authorization management system is associated with the data providing service of the product producer or product user. The authorization management system may provide the at least one authorization rule to the data providing service of the product producer or product user for generating the tracking data. The product data may be provided to the data providing service of the product producer or user and the authorization management system provides the at least one authorization rule. The authorization management system may be a central or decentral registry managing authorization mechanisms or rules of the decentral network. The authorization management system may be a decentral tracking application managing authorization mechanisms or rules for reverse tracking. The product data may be provided to the data providing service of the product producer or user for access by the decentral tracking application, wherein the decentral tracking application provides the at least one authorization rule.

In another embodiment providing the tracking data includes transfer of tracking data to the data consuming service of the chemical product producer. In another embodiment the tracking data associated with respective products is provided to the data providing service of the respective product producer or product user. In another embodiment the tracking data associated with respective products is aggregated and provided to the data providing service of the end product producer or user. In another embodiment the tracking data is provided to the data providing service of the end product producer or user for access by the data consuming service. In another embodiment the tracking data of an intermediate product producer is processed and provided by the end product producer or user. The tracking data may be associated with the product, the use of the chemical product and the chemical product’s use to produce the product. The tracking data may relate or include properties of the chemical product in association with its use to produce the product. The tracking data may relate or include properties of the product in association with the use of the chemical product to produce the product. The tracking data may relate to the product type the chemical product is used for or in, product identifiers such as decentral identifiers associated with the product, performance data associated with the chemical product and the chemical product’s use to produce the product application data associated with application properties of the chemical product and the product produced with or from the chemical product or combinations thereof.

In another embodiment providing tracking data includes providing a tracking passport including a decentral identifier associated with the tracked product, decentral identifier associated with the tracked chemical product, data related to the tracked chemical product data and/or data related to the tracked product data.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, the present disclosure is further described with reference to the enclosed figures.

Fig. 1 illustrates schematically an example of a method or apparatus for providing chemical product data and tracking data via a decentral network.

Fig. 2 illustrates schematically a flowchart of a method for reverse tracking the chemical product based on at least one authorization rule.

Fig. 3 illustrates schematically an example of a method or apparatus for providing the at least one authorization rule.

Fig. 4 illustrates schematically another example of a method or apparatus for providing the at least one authorization rule.

Fig. 5 illustrates schematically an example of enforcing the at least one authorization rule.

Fig. 6 illustrates schematically the product passport including the chemical product passport.

Figs. 7a, b illustrate schematically an example for reverse tracking the chemical product through a production or supply chain.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following embodiments are mere examples for implementing the method, the apparatus, the system or applications disclosed herein and shall not be considered limiting.

Fig. 1 illustrates schematically an example of a method or apparatus for providing chemical product data and tracking data via a decentral network. A chemical product 104 as produced by a chemical production network may be provided in association with a chemical product passport. The chemical product passport may relate to a chemical product identifier. The chemical product identifier may include one or more decentral identifier(s). The decentral identifier may be an identifier in the decentral network allowing for data exchange via the decentral network. Data exchange may include discovery of the decentral identifier for participants of the decentral network, authentication of participants of the decentral network and/or authorization of data transfers via a peer-to-peer communication between participants of the decentral network.

The chemical product passport may include or be related to data related to the chemical product. The chemical product passport may include a digital representation of the chemical product data associated with the chemical product 104.

The chemical product passport may further include or relate to authentication and/or authorization information linked to the chemical product identifier. The authentication and/or authorization information may be provided for authentication and/or authorization of a data providing service and/or data consuming service 210, 214. The chemical product identifier may include or relate to a decentral identifier, that is uniquely associated with the chemical product. The decentral identifier may be connected to the digital representation of the of the chemical product data associated with the chemical product 104. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the chemical product data or parts thereof. The decentral identifier may include a Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) or a Digital IDentifier (DID). The decentral identifier may include any unique identifier uniquely associated with a data owner and/or chemical product.

The data owner may be the producer of the chemical product. Via the decentral identifier and its unique association with the data owner and/or chemical product access to the chemical product data may be controlled by the data owner.

The chemical product passport including the digital representation of chemical product data may be stored in a decentral data base 200. The chemical product data may be stored in a data base 202 associated with the data owner, such as the producer of the chemical product 104. The chemical product 104 may be physically delivered to a producer producing a product based on the chemical product. The chemical product may be connected with a QR- code having encoded the chemical product identifier. The user of the chemical product may read the QR-code through a QR-code reader 206. The chemical product identifier may be provided to a data base 208 associated with the producer producing the product based on the chemical product 104. In other embodiments the producer producing a product based on the chemical product may retrieve the chemical product identifier through the decentral data base 200.

The data owner in this example may be the chemical product producer, any intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the chemical product or any producer producing a product based on the chemical product. The data owner may comprise any entity generating data. The data generating node may be coupled to the data owner or the entity owning or producing physical products from or for which data is generated. The data may be generated by a third-party entity on behalf of the entity owning physical products from or for which data is generated.

The data consuming service 210, 214 may comprise computer-executable instructions for accessing and/or processing data, such as chemical product data, associated with the data owner. The data providing service 210, 214 may comprise computer-executable instructions for providing and/or processing data, such as chemical product data, associated with the data owner for accessing and/or processing by the data consuming service 210,214.

Based on the received chemical product identifier a request to access the chemical product data related to the chemical product identifier may be triggered by the data consuming service 210 as signified by arrow 212. The chemical product identifier may be provided to the data providing service 214 associated with or of the producer of the chemical product 104. In addition, authentication and/or authorization information may be provided. The request may be authenticated and/or authorized to access the chemical product data related to the chemical product identifier. Based on successful authorization and/or authentication access to the chemical product data related to the chemical product identifier may be granted. For access the chemical product identifier may be provided to the data providing service 214 as signified by arrow 212. The data providing service 214 may use the received chemical product identifier to retrieve the chemical product data associated with the chemical product 104 as signified by arrows 218 and 220. The chemical product data associated with the chemical product 104 provided to the data providing service 214 may be provided to the data consuming service 210 as signified by arrow 216. The chemical product data associated with the chemical product 104 may be stored in the data base 208 associated with the user of the chemical product 104 as signified by arrow 220.

Through the chemical product identifier or decentral identifier, the chemical product data can be uniquely associated with the chemical product. Through the decentral network the chemical product data may be transferred between the producer of the chemical product and the user of the chemical product. This way the chemical product data can be shared with unique association to the chemical product and without central intermediary directly between the product supply chain players. This allows for transparency of chemical product data across the product supply chain.

Similarly, to the providing of chemical product data, tracking data may be provided. For providing tracking data may be generated by a node associated with the intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the chemical product or the producer producing a product based on the chemical product. The tracking data may in one example be provided via a tracking passport. In the following one example embodiment for transferring tracking data to the participant node associated with the chemical producer is described. This example shall not be considered limiting and only serves illustration purposes.

The tracking passport may relate to the chemical product identifier. The chemical product identifier may include a decentral identifier. The decentral identifier may be an identifier in the decentral network allowing for data exchange via the decentral network. Data exchange may include discovery of the decentral identifier for participants of the decentral network, authentication of participants of the decentral network and/or authorization of data transfers via a peer-to-peer communication between participants of the decentral network. The tracking passport may include data related to the tracking data. The passport may include a digital representation of the tracking data associated with the chemical product 104 used to produce the intermediate product or product. The tracking passport may be provided by a node associated with the intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the chemical product or the producer producing a product based on the chemical product. Via the tracking passport the tracking data may be provided to a data providing service of the product producer for access by a data consuming service.

The tracking passport may include or relate to authentication and/or authorization information linked to the chemical product identifier. The authentication and/or authorization information may be provided for authentication and/or authorization of a data providing service and/or data consuming service 210, 214. The chemical product identifier may include or relate to a decentral identifier, that is uniquely associated with the chemical product. The decentral identifier may be connected to the digital representation of the of the tracking data associated with the chemical product 104. The digital representation may include a representation for accessing the tracking data or parts thereof. The decentral identifier may include a Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) or a Digital IDenti- fier (DID). The decentral identifier may include any unique identifier uniquely associated with the chemical product.

The data owner of tracking data may be the intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the chemical product or the producer producing a product based on the chemical product. The tracking data owner may be any intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the chemical product or any producer producing a product based on the chemical product. Via the decentral identifier and its unique association with the tracking data of the chemical product access to the tracking data may be controlled by the data owner. The data owner may comprise any entity generating data. The data generating node may be coupled to the data owner or the entity owning or producing physical products from or for which data is generated. The data may be generated by a third-party entity on behalf of the entity owning physical products from or for which data is generated. The tracking passport including the digital representation of tracking data may be stored in a decentral data base 200. The tracking data may be stored in a data base 208 associated with the data owner, such as the intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the chemical product or the producer producing a product based on the chemical product.

Based on the chemical product identifier a request to access the tracking data related to the chemical product identifier may be triggered by the data consuming service 214 as signified by arrow 216. The chemical product identifier may be provided to the data providing service 210 associated with or of the intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the chemical product 104 or the producer producing a product based on the chemical product 104. In addition, authentication and/or authorization information may be provided. The request may be authenticated and/or authorized to access the tracking data related to the chemical product identifier. Based on successful authorization and/or authentication access to the tracking data related to the chemical product identifier may be granted.

For access the chemical product identifier may be provided to the data providing service 210 as signified by arrow 216. The data providing service 210 may use the received chemical product identifier to retrieve the tracking data associated with the chemical product 104 as signified by arrows 222 and 220. The tracking data associated with the chemical product 104 provided to the data providing service 210 may be provided to the data consuming service 214 as signified by arrow 222. The tracking data associated with the chemical product 104 may be stored in the data base 202 associated with the user of the chemical product 104 as signified by arrow 218. Through the chemical product identifier or decentral identifier, the tracking data can be uniquely associated with the chemical product. Through the decentral network the tracking data may be transferred between the intermediate product producer producing an intermediate product based on the chemical product or the producer producing a product based on the chemical product and the producer of the chemical product and the user of the chemical product. This way the tracking data can be shared with unique association to the chemical product and without central intermediary directly between the product supply chain players. This allows for transparency of tracking data across the product supply chain.

Fig. 2 illustrates schematically a flowchart of a method for tracking the chemical product based on at least one authorization rule.

For tracking a chemical product in the production chain of a product produced based on the chemical product, tracking data may be provided via a decentral network to participant node(s) of the decentral network as lined out in the context of Fig. 1 .

For tracking the chemical product across participant nodes of the decentral network, product data may be generated by the participant node associated with the producer producing the product based on the chemical product. Product data may be generated on production of the product based on the chemical product. The generated product data may be provided to a data base associated with the data providing service 210,214 of the respective participant node of the decentral network. The generated product data may be accessed by data consuming service 210, 214 of other participant nodes of the decentral network.

For accessing the thus provided product data, at least one authorization rule may be applied by the data owner to provide tracking data. The at least one authorization rule may relate to the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or data related to chemical product. The at least one authorization rule may provide access for the participant node associated with the chemical product producer to tracking data associated with the product produced based on the chemical product. This relation ensures that the chemical producer can access tracking data that relates to chemical products produced by the chemical producer. The access to tracking data associated with chemical products of another chemical producer can thus be avoided.

The authorization rule may relate to or include at least one event trigger associated with the use of the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or the data related to the chemical product. Such use may include any processing of the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or the data related to the chemical product. For example, concatenating or linking the decentral identifier associated with the product produced based on the chemical product and the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or the data related to the chemical product may be the event trigger specified in the authorization rule.

The authorization rule may relate to or include a specification of tracking data based on product data associated with the product produced based on the chemical product. The authorization rule may relate to a specification of tracking data derived from product data associated with the product produced based on the chemical product. The authorization rule may relate to or include instructions, which based on the event trigger process product data to generate tracking data and to provide such tracking data. For the event trigger the authorization rule may include instructions that fetch product data specified by the authorization rule to generate tracking data and provide such tracking data. In other embodiments the authorization rule may include instructions that fetch product data, process the product data as specified by the authorization rule to generate tracking data and provide such tracking data. Processing of the product data may include any transformation or mapping of the product data to tracking data, such as aggregation, filtering, joining, enriching or the like.

Tracking data may include an application type and application data related to the chemical product. This way the tracking data relevant to chemical product development can be provided and sensitive information of supply chain participants can be masked. The application type may relate to the product type, such as an intermediate product type and/or an end product type, which is produced based on the chemical product. The application data may include at least one performance property of the chemical product used to produce the product. The application data may be associated with an application performance of the chemical product used to produce the product. The application performance may be specified by a performance property relating to the chemical product and/or the product produced using the chemical product. The performance property may relate to any application property of the chemical product. The performance property may relate to an application property of the chemical product contained in the product. The performance property may relate to an application property of the use of the chemical product in the production of the product. In such case the product may not contain the chemical product. The chemical product may only be used for the production of the product. One example may be a detergent applied to the product in a production step. In this example, application data may relate to the product performance impacted by such production step.

Tracking data may be provided or accessed via the decentral network by one or more participant node(s) associated with product producers, such as intermediate product producers or end product producers. Tracking data may be provided via the decentral network by all participant node(s) associated with product producers, that use the chemical product to produce the product. Tracking data may be provided via the decentral network by selected participant node(s) associated with product producers, that use the chemical product to produce the product. Tracking data may be provided via the decentral network by participant node(s) processing tracking data of participant node(s) associated with product producers, that use the chemical product to produce the product.

Tracking data may be provided via the decentral network by participant node(s) aggregating, filtering and/or enriching tracking data of participant node(s) associated with product producers, that use the chemical product to produce the product.

Tracking data may be provided to a data providing service of the product producer for access by a data consuming service. The tracking data may be transferred to the data consuming service of the chemical product producer. Tracking data may be provided by participant node(s), associated with product producers, that use the chemical product to produce the product, via the tracking passport. The tracking passport may include a decentral identifier associated with the tracked product, decentral identifier associated with the tracked chemical product, data related to tracked chemical product data and/or data related to tracked product data. Tracking data may be provided via the decentral network to the participant node associated with the chemical producer. One example embodiment for transferring tracking data to the participant node associated with the chemical producer is described in the context of Fig. 1 . The example is only for illustrative purposes and shall not be considered limiting.

As described in the context of Fig. 2 the authorization rule may relate to or include the event trigger. The authorization rule may relate to or include the specification of tracking data based on product data associated with the product produced based on the chemical product. The authorization rule may relate to or include instructions, which based on the event trigger process product data specified by the authorization rule to generate tracking data and provide such tracking data.

The authorization rule may be provided as part of a chemical product passport. The chemical product passport may include the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or data related to chemical product as described in the context of Fig. 1 . By providing the authorization rule together with the chemical product passport, the authorization rule may be inherently linked to the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or data related to chemical product. This link may be persistent or non-persistent.

If the link is persistent the tracking of the chemical product through the production and/or lifecycle chain can be based on usage or processing of the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or data related to chemical product at any participant node of the decentral network. In particular, the authorization rule may be provided in connection with the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or the data related to chemical product and such connection may be maintained on any data exchange relating to the chemical product data. This way the authorization rule may stick directly to the data flow in the decentral network via the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or the data related to the chemical product.

If the link is non-persistent the tracking of the chemical product through the production and/or lifecycle chain can be based on linking authorization rule to any decentral identifiers associated with the products produced based on the chemical product and/or data related to the products produced based on the chemical product. In both instances the inherent link to the chemical product used to produce the product may be maintained to allow for reverse tracking as described herein. In particular, tracking data may be provided via a tracking passport including a decentral identifier associated with the tracked product, decentral identifier associated with the tracked chemical product, data related to tracked chemical product data and/or data related to tracked product data. This way the authorization rule sticks indirectly to the data flow in the decentral network via the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or the chemical product data.

The authorization rule may be provided by an authorization management system. The authorization management system may be associated with the data providing service of the product producer. The authorization management system may include an authorization registry providing the authorization rule in relation to the decentral identifier associated with the tracked product, decentral identifier associated with the tracked chemical product, data related to tracked chemical product data and/or data related to tracked product data.

The authorization management system may include a decentral tracking application including the authorization rule in relation to the decentral identifier associated with the tracked product, decentral identifier associated with the tracked chemical product, data related to tracked chemical product data and/or data related to tracked product data. The product data may be provided to the data providing service of the product producer for access by a decentral tracking application. The decentral application may apply the authorization rule. The product data may be provided to the decentral tracking application and tracking data may be generated by applying the authorization rule. The tracking data may be provided by the decentral tracking application for access by the data consuming service of the chemical product producer.

The embodiments described in the context of Figs. 3 and 4 the authorization rule may be implemented for pushing and/or by pulling data from the data providing service(s) of participant node(s) to the data consuming service of the chemical producer.

For pushing data, the authorization rule may include the event trigger triggering generation of tracking data and a push request for transferring data from the data providing service(s) of participant node(s) to the data consuming service of the chemical producer.

For pulling data, the authorization rule may include the event trigger triggering the generation of tracking data and providing such tracking data on receipt of a request for data transfer from the data consuming service of the chemical producer. The request for data transfer from the data consuming service of the chemical producer triggers the transfer of data from the data providing service(s) of participant node(s) to the data consuming service of the chemical producer.

In some embodiments the authorization rule may be implemented for pushing and pulling data from the data providing service(s) of participant node(s) to the data consuming service of the chemical producer. Such protocols include push and pull requests. For example, the data consuming service of the chemical producer may include a monitoring service to gather tracking data via the decentral network. The monitoring service may be triggered by the authorization rule in a push scenario. The authorization rule may include instructions providing the identifier of the participant node(s) to the data consumer service, if the generated tracking data is updated. Based on the identifier of the participant node, the monitoring service may generate the request for transferring tracking data from the data providing service of the participant node to the data consuming service of the chemical producer. These are only some example protocols for transferring tracking data based on the authorization rule. Other protocols are possible, and the examples provided here shall not be considered limiting.

Fig. 5 illustrates schematically an example of enforcing the at least one authorization rule. The example illustrates an implementation of an authorization mechanism using usage-controlled data flow. Such example may be implemented in the international data space (IDS) framework as specified for instance in the IDSA Reference Architecture Model, Version 3.0 of April 2019.

The international data space (IDS) framework is only one example framework. Many other examples exist that may or may not use distributed ledger technology and may or may not use smart contract implementations running on the distributed ledger. Distributed ledger technology include, but are not limited to, technology stacks like Bitcoin (see e.g. Bitcoin documentation of November 11 , 2022 published https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Pro- tocol documentation), Ethereum (see e.g. Ethereum documentation of August 15, 2022 published on https://ethereum.org/en/developers/docs/), Solana (see e.g. Solana documentation of November 11 , 2022 published on https://spl.solana.com/), Polygon (see e.g. Polygon documentation of November 11 , 2022 published https://wiki.polvgon.tech- nology/) or other implementations with varying degree of data transactions performed on the distributed ledger. The description of the example framework is only for illustrative purposes and shall not be considered limiting. The gist of reverse tracking may be implemented on any of technology stack forming a decentral network including e.g. peer-to-peer communication based on authentication and/or authorization mechanisms.

For data exchange or sharing according to IDS framework authentication is executed via IDS connectors. By way of authentication the decentral identifier or data related to the decentral identifier of the accessing entity is available to connector IDS connector. After access to the IDS connector associated with the data providing service has been granted according to the specified procedures, authorization based on authorization rule(s) may follow.

Usage controlled data flows may be used to enforce authorization rule(s) or usage policies on data exchange or sharing. Usage control may be achieved by binding usage policies to data being exchanged and by continuously controlling the way how data is processed, aggregated or forwarded to other endpoints.

For enforcing usage policies, data flows may be monitored and potentially intercepted by control points. The intercepted data flows may be passed to a decision engine for requesting permission, denial or modification of the data flow. The decision-making may be based on the evaluation of the usage policy by the decision engine. Data usage transactions may trigger interception and evaluation.

To provide the set of authorization rules for the chemical product data associated with the decentral identifier of the IDS connector, usage policies may be provided by a policy manager to the decision engine. The usage policies may be stored independently from the data. The policy manager may be present within the IDS connectors and/or within the clearing house to administer usage policies.

Based on the decentral identifier or data related to the decentral identifier of the accessing entity, the authorization rule for chemical product data associated with a decentral identifier may be selected for enforcement. Enforcement mechanisms may work differently (e.g., work on different system actions) on different systems or technologies. Abstract policies can have different instantiations. Usage policies may be instantiated on the target system. In another example (not shown), usage policies may adhere to the data (also called sticky policy). Sticky policies are one way to cope with the distribution of the usage restrictions. In this approach, machine-readable usage policies may stick to data when it is exchanged. There exist different realization possibilities. For instance, data may be encrypted and can only be decrypted when the adherence to the usage restrictions are guaranteed.

Usage policies may include additional information provided e.g. by a policy information registry. Additional information may include information about contextual information such as previous data usages or the geographical location of an entity, pre- or post-conditions that have to hold before (e.g. integrity checks) and after (e.g. data item is deleted after usage) the decision-making and on-conditions that have to hold during usage (e.g. only during business hours). In case the decision depends on additional information, the decision engine or the control point may request additional information from the policy information registry. The policy information registry information may provide the requested additional information.

In addition, the policy in-formation registry may be used to get contextual information for or about the intercepted system action (e.g., data flow information, geolocation of the requesting device). For example, the policy information registry may be used to resolve the ID of a supplier to a postal address and the postal address to GPS coordinates.

The policy executor may be used to perform additional actions based on policy rules, such as sending a notification e.g. via email when data is used or writing to a system log. The action may be triggered by sending the instruction related to the desired additional action from the control point to the policy executor e.g. after the control point receives the additional information from the policy information system. The policy executor may perform the instructed action and may con-firm that the action succeeded to the decision engine.

After the decision engine receives the confirmation from the policy executor, it may forward its decision to the requesting control point. The decision can comprise allowing the data flow, denying the data flow or modifying the data flow. The decision may be implemented by the control point. The selected authorization rule may be applied to the chemical product data associated with a decentral identifier. The chemical product data associated with the decentral identifier according to the selected authorization rule may be provided.

The usage control enforcement can be implemented in the IDS connectors. At runtime, the usage control enforcement prevents IDS connectors from treating data in an undesired way, for example by forwarding personal data to public endpoints. Application of the usage policy associated with the usage enforcement control at the data provider connector or at the data consumer connector may depends on the usage policy. At the data provider connector, usage policies may specify how often data can be accessed, at what times (e.g., only within business hours), or that data must be filtered or masked (e.g., anonymized) before leaving the company. The usage policies at the data provider connector may include obligations for the data consumer. The technical enforcement may be handled by the control point or the policy executor depending on the usage restriction. For example, limiting data flowing to a specific target system to ensure the correct usage purpose may be handled by the control point while the deletion of data in storage infra-structure outside the connector may be handled by the policy executor.

The usage control enforcement may be implemented at the storage infrastructure. Storage infra-structure may be any kind of storage to persist data such as a file system or a database. The storage infrastructure may be used without modification, but every usage of the data may be handled by the IDS connector. In certain instances, this could lead to a bottleneck. Usage control may be implemented by encrypting the data within the IDS connector connected to the storage infra-structure before transferring the data to the storage infrastructure. Using the data is only possible by using the IDS connector to decrypt the data. Hence, every usage is controlled by the IDS connector. In such cases, usage restrictions such as data lifetime or time constraints can be enforced by deleting the cryptographic key material. Additionally or alternatively, the storage infrastructure may include a usage control enforcement component that monitors and/or controls the usage of the data.

Usage control enforcement may also be implemented in applications such that the data flow with-in the applications can be controlled and adhered to the usage policies. Similar to the storage infrastructure, a control point can be integrated into the application that controls the data flows.

The afore-described usage control enforcement in the IDS allows to achieve the following security requirement, which cannot be achieved using traditional access control: Secrecy: Classified data must not be forwarded to nodes which do not have the respective clearance, Integrity: Critical data must not be modified by untrusted nodes as otherwise their integrity cannot be guaranteed anymore, Time to live: A prerequisite for persisting data is that it must be deleted from storage after a given period of time, Anonymization by aggregation: Personal data must only be used as aggregates by untrust-ed parties. A sufficient number of distinct records must be aggregated in order to prevent deanonymization of individual records, Anonymization by replacement: Data which allows a personal identification (e.g. faces in camera images) must be replaced by an adequate substitute (e.g. blurred) in order to guarantee that individuals cannot be deanonymized from the data,

Separation of duty: Two data sets from competitive entities (e.g. two chemical industries) must never be aggregated or processed by the same service, Usage scope: Data may only serve as input for data pipes within the connector but must never leave the connector to an external endpoint.

Fig. 6 illustrates schematically an end product passport including the chemical product passport.

The configuration shown in Fig. 6 is only one illustrative example and different example configurations for passports anchored by digital identifiers exist. Different configurations include different parent, child, grandchild relationships for passports generated in the production chain up to an end product or the lifecycle chain up to end-of life.

Fig. 6 illustrates a fully embedded configuration for different product generated in the production chain up to the end product or the lifecycle chain up to end-of life. For multiple stages of the production chain up to the end product or the lifecycle chain up to end- of life individual passports may be generated. The passport generation may include the providing of a decentral identifier and an authentication mechanism for each of the multiple stages. By fully embedding the chemical product passport, the authorization rule for reverse tracking may be embedded in the chemical product passport. This way the authorization rule for reverse tracking may be available at any stage of the generated in production chain up to the end product or the lifecycle chain up to end-of life.

In other embodiments individual configuration for different passports generated in the production chain up to the end product or the lifecycle chain up to end-of life may be used. For multiple stages the production chain up to the end product or the lifecycle chain up to end-of life individual passports may be generated. The passport generation may include the providing of a decentral identifier and an authentication mechanism for each of the multiple stages. The relationships of passports at different stages of the production chain up to the end product or the lifecycle chain up to end-of life may be based on links between such product passports.

In yet other embodiments anchored configuration for different passports generated in the production chain up to the end product or the lifecycle chain up to end-of life may be used. For multiple stages in of the production chain up to the end product or the lifecycle chain up to end-of life individual passports may be generated. The passport generation may include the providing of a decentral identifier and an authentication mechanism for each of the multiple stages. The relationships of passports at different stages may be anchored to the end product passport based on links from passports at different stages to the end product passport.

Fig. 7a illustrates an embodiment where the respective tracking data is provided by individual participant nodes of the production or supply chain to the node of the chemical producer. The authorization rule may be handled as described in the context of Figs. 3 and 4. The authorization rule related to the chemical product may for example be passed on to participant nodes of the production or supply chain.

The chemical product producer may provide the at least one authorization rule related to the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or data related to chemical product for access to tracking data by the data consuming service of the chemical producer. The chemical product producer may provide the at least one authorization to an intermediate product producer. The intermediate product may be produced based on the chemical product. The tracking data of the intermediate product producer may be provided to the data providing service of the intermediate producer. The tracking data of the intermediate product producer may be provided for access by the data consuming service of the chemical producer.

The chemical product producer may provide the at least one authorization to the end product producer for access to tracking data by the data consuming service of the chemical producer. The end product may be produced based on the intermediate product. The tracking data of the end product producer may be provided to the data providing service of the end product producer. The tracking data of the end product producer may be provided for access by the data consuming service of the chemical producer.

The respective tracking data may be provided to the data providing service of the respective product producer for access to tracking data by the data consuming service of the chemical producer. Reverse tracking in this embodiment allows for customization of authorization rules depending on production or supply chain participant without exposing authorization rules to other production or supply chain participants.

Fig. 7b illustrates an embodiment where the respective tracking data is aggregated at the participant node of the end product and the aggregated tracking data is provided to the data consuming service of the chemical producer. The authorization rule may be handled as described in the context of Figs. 3 and 4. The authorization rule related to the chemical product may for example be passed on to participant nodes of the production or supply chain.

The chemical product producer may provide the at least one authorization rule related to the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or data related to chemical product for access to tracking data by the data consuming service of the chemical producer. The chemical product producer may provide the at least one authorization to an intermediate product producer. The intermediate product may be produced based on the chemical product. The tracking data of the intermediate product producer may be provided to the data providing service of the end producer. The tracking data of the intermediate product producer may be provided for access by the data consuming service of the chemical producer via the data providing service of the end product producer.

The intermediate product producer may provide the at least one authorization to the end product producer for access to tracking data by the data consuming service of the chemical producer. The end product may be produced based on the intermediate product. The tracking data of the intermediate product producer and the end product producer may be aggregated at the end product producer node. The tracking data of the intermediate product producer and the end product producer may be provided to the data providing service of the end product producer.

The tracking data of the intermediate product producer and the end product producer may be provided for access by the data consuming service of the chemical producer.

The respective tracking data may be aggregated along the production and/or lifecylce chain.

The aggregated tracking data may be provided to the data providing service of the end product producer for access to tracking data by the data consuming service of the chemical producer.

The tracking data of an intermediate product producer may be processed and provided by the end product producer. Reverse tracking in this embodiment allows for consolidated authorization rules from the chemical producer. The aggregated tracking data transfer from the end product producer reduced network load.

The embodiments of Figs. 7a, b are only examples for implementing the methods for reverse tracking of chemical products in supply chains. In other embodiments the authorization rules may be shared as described in the context of Fig. 7b with some supply chain participants and hidden as described in the context of Fig. 7a. Such combination allows for customization and more flexibility in handling decentral transfer of tracking data. The supply chain shown in Figs. 7a, b relates to the production chain of the product and reverse tracking of the chemical product used to produce the product. This example may be easily extended to include the lifecycle chain of the product and participant nodes associated with users of the product.

The present disclosure has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments and examples as well. However, other variations can be understood and effected by those persons skilled in the art and practicing the claimed invention, from the studies of the drawings, this disclosure and the claims. Any steps presented herein can be performed in any order. The methods disclosed herein are not limited to a specific order of these steps. It is also not required that the different steps are performed at a certain place or in a certain computing node of a distributed system, i.e. each of the steps may be performed at different computing nodes using different equipment/data processing.

As used herein ..determining" also includes ..initiating or causing to determine", “generating" also includes „ initiating and/or causing to generate" and “providing” also includes “initiating or causing to determine, generate, select, send and/or receive”. “Initiating or causing to perform an action” includes any processing signal that triggers a computing node or device to perform the respective action.

In the claims as well as in the description the word “comprising” does not exclude other elements or steps and the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality. A single element or other unit may fulfill the functions of several entities or items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in the mutual different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used in an advantageous implementation.

Any disclosure and embodiments described herein relate to the methods, the systems, devices, the computer program element lined out above and vice versa. Advantageously. the benefits provided by any of the embodiments and examples equally apply to all other embodiments and examples and vice versa.

All terms and definitions used herein are understood broadly and have their general meaning.

Claims

Claims:

1 . A method for reverse tracking a chemical product during production of a product using the chemical product and/or usage of the product produced using the chemical product, the method comprising the steps: providing at least one authorization rule associated with the chemical product, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the chemical product producer to product data generated in relation to the production of the product using the chemical product and/or usage of the product produced using the chemical product, generating tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the chemical product by applying the at least one authorization rule to the product data, and providing the tracking data to a data providing service of the product producer and/or product user for access by a data consuming service of the chemical product producer.

2. A method for authorizing access to reverse tracking data by a chemical producer, the method comprising the steps of: providing at least one authorization rule associated with the chemical product, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the chemical product producer to product data generated in relation to the production of a product using the chemical product and/or usage of the product produced using the chemical product, wherein the at least one authorization rule includes at least one event trigger and one or more instruction(s) configured to generate tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the chemical product from the product data and configured to provide the tracking data.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the at least one authorization rule is related to a decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or data related to chemical product.

4. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one authorization rule is provided as part of a chemical product passport including a decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or data related to the chemical product.

5. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one authorization rule is provided by an authorization management system, wherein the authorization management system is associated with the data providing service of the product producer and/or product user.

6. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one authorization rule relates to at least one event trigger associated with the use of the decentral identifier associated with the chemical product and/or of the data related to the chemical product.

7. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the authorization rule relates to a specification of tracking data based on product data associated with the product produced based on the chemical product.

8. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein providing the tracking data includes transfer of tracking data to the data consuming service of the chemical product producer and/or wherein the tracking data associated with respective products is provided to the data providing service of the respective product producer or product user.

9. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the tracking data associated with respective products is aggregated and provided to the data providing service of the end product producer and/or end product user.

10. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein providing tracking data includes providing a tracking passport including a decentral identifier associated with the tracked product, data related to the tracked chemical product data and/or data related to the tracked product data.

11 . The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the tracking data includes the application type and application data related to the chemical product.

12. An apparatus for reverse tracking a chemical product during production of a product using the chemical product and/or usage of the product produced using the chemical product, the apparatus comprising: an authorization provider configured to provide at least one authorization rule associated with the chemical product, wherein the at least one authorization rule provides access for the chemical product producer to product data associated with generated in relation to the production of the product using the chemical product and/or usage of the product produced using the chemical product, a tracking data generator configured to generate tracking data associated with at least one property related to the use of the chemical product by applying the at least one authorization rule to the product data, and a tracking data provider configured to provide the tracking data to a data providing service of a product producer and/or product user for access by a data consuming service of the chemical product producer.

13. A data providing service of a product producer, a data providing service of a product producer and/or a product user or a data consuming service of a chemical product producer configured to process tracking data provided according to the methods of any of claims 1 to 11 or as provided by the apparatus according to claim 12.

14. Use of tracking data associated with a chemical product as provided according to the methods of any of claims 1 to 11 or as provided by the apparatus according to claim 12 for adapting chemical product performance or for producing chemical products.

5. A chemical product associated with at least one authorization rule for tracking the chemical product according to the methods of any of claims 1 to 11 or as provided by the apparatus of claim 12.