ISO/IEC 7816-6:2016 specifies directly or by reference, data elements, including composite data elements that may be used in interindustry interchange.

It identifies the following characteristics of each data element:

- identifier;

- name;

- description and reference;

- format and coding (if not available in other ISO standards or parts of ISO/IEC 7816).

The layout of each data element is described as seen at the interface between the interface device and the card.

It provides the definition of data elements without consideration of any restrictions on the usage of the data elements.

It does not cover the internal implementation within the card and/or the outside world. With the exception of login data objects (6.5), only application class tags are eligible in ISO/IEC 7816-6:2016.

When using an interindustry template, an application is allowed to nest context-specific class tags (see ISO/IEC 7816‑4) under such a template unless it is previously marked as Reserved for Future Use ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 17.