The data card is a utility card that provides a couple of algorithms which would be either hard to implement on an architecture, or run relatively slowly on them. It provides hashing functionalities, as well as basic inflate/deflate. Additionally it comes with an embedded file system that provides a number of programs using the functionality provided by the card, similar to the internet card.
Keep in mind that there is a limit to the size of data that can be processed at a time, and that each operation consumes a bit of energy.