QR Codes: Importance and Security of QR Codes

This QR code is for my Blog

Have you ever seen a box-looking barcode and wonder what it is? They are QR codes, or Quick Response codes. QR codes were developed by a Japanese company to keep track of their inventories. Today, QR codes are becoming very popular in the United States, Europe, and many other countries. QR codes can be found everywhere around us. Newspapers, magazines, fliers, business cards, and T-shirts (Yes! On T-shirts) often contain QR codes. But, what are we supposed to do with these QR codes? We are supposed to scan them with our smart phones, or tablets to gain more information about the product, receive instant coupons, know more about upcoming events, or get contact information of someone. So, how do we get a QR code scanner? Anyone can simply download free apps available on the App store or Google Play to scan QR codes. (Yes, it’s that simple!)

Why QR codes over 1-D barcodes?

It is important to differentiate between QR codes and 1-D barcodes to understand the importance and advantages of QR codes. First, QR codes can be scanned from a 360° angle, whereas 1-D barcodes can only be scanned from horizontal sides. Second important difference is the amount of data each barcode can hold. As Sankara Narayanan, an information security researcher, points out in his article, “Bar codes are linear one-dimensional codes and can only hold up to 20 numerical digits, whereas QR codes are two-dimensional (2D) matrix barcodes that can hold 7,089 numeric characters and 4, 296 alphanumeric characters, and 1, 817 kanji characters of information.” The ability of QR codes to hold more data is what makes them very useful, and with this advantage business owners can put more information about their products, or include URL of their websites to inform consumers about the current sales. Lastly, QR codes take less space compare to 1-D barcodes. So, QR codes can be helpful in saving printing costs for small businesses and large corporations.

QR codes for promoting Company’s Brand

QR codes can be very useful for business owners to promote their brands. Since they are very easy to generate, business owners should generate a code for their business use. For businesses, QR codes can provide contact information, current sales information, give customers Wi-Fi access (great for cafe, and restaurants), options of getting instant coupons, and provide more information about products. Businesses should consider using QR codes because a recent study shows there are more customers who are keen to use QR codes and shop through QR codes because it saves them a hassle of waiting in long lines. The numbers of users who are shopping through QR codes are steadily increasing and it would be very smart tactics for business owners to advertise their brand via QR codes.

 Security of QR codes  

                  

Although QR codes have significant advantages, we should always consider security of QR codes. It is essential for users to understand security of QR codes because often QR codes are connected with shortened URL. It is very hard to decide whether shortened URL will take one to safe site, or unsecure site. If the site is not legitimate, then it can download malware in to your device, or the URL will lead you to the website which is controlled by hackers. In these cases, users might lose their personal information stored on their smart phones, such as bank account information, personal photos, and much more. More information on QR code security is discussed in this article. A solution to this problem can be solved by choosing a correct QR code scanner app. Some of the free available QR code scanner apps let you preview the webpage that the QR code will take you on. This is very useful because it enables users to reject the request if they find out that QR code they are using is broken.

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