You have likely seen a lot more QR codes over the last two years due to the pandemic. At many restaurants, for example, which are keen not to share physical menus, customers scan a QR code with their phone camera to open a website for the online menu.
- Short for Quick Response, a QR code stores all kinds of information that can be scanned and accessed by a digital device such as your smartphone.
- The machine-readable format can also be printed on a piece of paper.
- While barcodes are one-dimensional, which means that information can be scanned only horizontally, QR codes are two-dimensional. Hence, information on a QR code can be read both horizontally and vertically, allowing it to store more data.
- QR codes allow you to download applications, join WiFi networks without having to key in any password, scan coupons, and much more. They can be embedded on a company’s website to gather feedback, facilitate registrations, collect customer data, and order details. QR codes can be used on physical products as a way to provide more information.
- QR codes are also used for document verification to check if a credential is genuine. This has gained popularity during the pandemic with some countries opting for QR code-based vaccination certificates to open up travel and business.
| Normal QR Code | Signed/Verifiable QR Code |
|---|---|
| A normal QR code contains information that can be read and understood by any QR code viewer. They typically carry a URL and a scan of such QR codes reroutes to a separate site. | A signed QR code encodes the verifiable data set or information within the QR itself, rather than on any website. |
| In a normal QR code, information can be edited and altered, making the verification process untrustworthy and vulnerable to hacking. To address this issue, a signed or verifiable QR code is used, particularly in the case of sensitive information. Sensitive data could be your bank details, educational details, and medical information, among others. | The information is secure and cannot be altered or tampered with, nor can it be scanned and accessed by everyone. This is because the original data/information in the QR code is digitally signed. |
| Example: In the case of COVID-19 vaccination certificates, for example, data identifying the vaccination event and the beneficiary is encoded within a QR code and then digitally signed, making it tamper-proof. Only a verifying authority with a secure key can validate this information accurately by matching it with the signing key of the QR code. |
