One passport, issued once, checked anywhere.
A VINPassport is opened when the vehicle is built, kept current by approved registrars, and checked by anyone with a phone. Here is what happens at each stage, and who sees what.
Three stages, three kinds of people.
-
01
Issued at the factory
The manufacturer opens the passport on the production line, before the vehicle has any history to misstate. Each field gets its integrity rule at this moment.
WhoThe manufacturer -
02
Kept current by registrars
Approved registrars, such as the manufacturer's service network, add readings, services and repairs. Every write names its writer. Adding or removing a registrar takes two registrars' approval, and every change is announced on the ledger.
WhoApproved registrars -
03
Checked by anyone
A buyer scans the QR code on the car or its listing and gets plain answers in the browser. Recyclers and authorities get the further pages they are entitled to.
WhoBuyers, recyclers, authorities
The passport, explained.
Each reader sees their page.
Buyers get answers, not records. A buyer's answers are public, so anyone with the code sees the same ones; anything more travels in a file only its holder can open, checked against the same ledger.
| Passport page | Buyer | Recycler | Authority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ever written off? | Yes or no | Category | Full record |
| Reported accidents | Yes or no | Not shown | Full record |
| Mileage | Under a bound, e.g. 150,000 km | Not shown | Exact reading |
| Keepers | One from new or not | Not shown | Count |
| Parts replaced | Not shown | Part and year | Full record |
| Battery passport | Link | Link, full access | Link, full access |
| Euro 7 environmental data | Summary | Materials summary | Full record |
The exact pages each reader sees are agreed with each manufacturer during onboarding. This table shows the default. Built today: a buyer's, a dealer's and an authority's page, each checked against the ledger on Check a disclosure. The recycler's page follows the same pattern.
The answer is public. The record is not.
VINPassport is built on Midnight, a blockchain designed to prove things without revealing them.
- Sealed, never stored in the open. The ledger holds a sealed fingerprint of each value, never the value itself.
- Answers come with proof. A check returns a yes or no backed by a mathematical proof. The value that satisfies it is never published.
- No VIN on the ledger. A passport is found by a sealed fingerprint of its VIN, never by the VIN itself.
- Free to check. A check reads the public record, so it creates no transaction and costs nothing. Buyers need no wallet, account or app.
What a passport cannot prove.
If an issuer records a false value, the proof will faithfully prove a false fact. We say that plainly, and limit it to the first write.
The writer is named
Every value is bound to one identity from a named set of writers. The set changes only with two registrars' approval, announced on the ledger.
The rule comes first
A field's integrity rule is set when the passport is created. The contract's code changes only with two of three maintenance keys, in public on the ledger.
The second version is refused
A lower later reading, such as a rolled-back odometer, fails inside the proof and nothing is written.
Still open: the first entry for a vehicle that joins mid-life. Readings signed by the vehicle's own sensors are planned for a later phase.
Common questions
Do buyers need an app or an account?
No. The QR code opens a web page. Nothing to install, nothing to sign up for, nothing to pay.
What if someone swaps the QR sticker onto another car?
The verdict page has a Match this car check: type the VIN from the windscreen plate and the page confirms whether the passport belongs to that car. The VIN is never stored or shown.
Is this the same as the EU's Euro 7 passport?
VINPassport carries what Euro 7 requires, the environmental data, and adds the history buyers ask about. The history layer is voluntary; the manufacturer chooses to issue it.
What does "Not proven" mean?
No claim has been recorded for that question. It is shown as unknown, never as a no.
Who can write to a passport?
Only the manufacturer and its named registrars. Adding or removing a registrar takes two registrars' approval, announced on the ledger.
See a passport for yourself.
Open the sample, or talk to us about a pilot.