Computer Hardware.
Computer-hardware distribution tracks serialized components and finished units by GTIN and serial. Each capture attributes the observer and the account behind the key, so a return, an RMA, or a warranty claim resolves to who actually saw the unit.
whospine:capturedBy
An RMA answered by a trace, not a search.
GET /epcs/{https://id.gs1.org/01/00614141123452/21/SN-88117}/events
→ commissioning who: human · line 2 capturedBy: mfr acct
→ shipping who: human · dock 1 capturedBy: mfr acct
→ receiving who: human · goods-in capturedBy: distributor acct
→ shipping who: agent · wms bot capturedBy: distributor acct
→ receiving who: human · returns capturedBy: reseller acctIllustrative: the per-EPC trace is the implemented read surface (GET /epcs/{epc}/events, and trace over MCP), inside your own scope, with your capture key.
For the integration engineer with a returns queue.
The unit's history is the sequence of events, not a mutable state field — so "who last saw this serial" is a query, not an email thread. Out-of-scope reads return absence, not redaction: a reseller sees its own hops and nothing upstream of its grant.