Do you use QR codes or do you avoid them?

[gavin57@toot.wales]

@JoBlakely I’d rather a plain-text URL so I can see where it leads.

[sasutina13@lgbtqia.space]

@polinamials @artemis @JoBlakely

Apps which hide the data in a QR code and immediately connect to whatever it points to are not anyone's friend.

At the very least, apps must show the data to the user and let the user decide whether to continue or not. And logging would be most helpful as well.

[kanamauna@sauropods.win]

@JoBlakely

Rarely. Setting aside the security concerns, forcing me to waste my time fumbling with my phone and then squint and scroll trying to read a document designed to be read on a PC is a great way to make me loose interest.

[sasutina13@lgbtqia.space]

@polinamials @artemis @JoBlakely

I have a little pocket barcode scanner I can use to read barcodes without any actions being taken by an app. It is very useful.

[bolomkxxviii@mastodon.social]

@JoBlakely QR codes have many use cases. Most often, they are used to track users. Restaurants want to know how often you frequent their establishment and how much you spend each visit, ad agencies use them to track the "stickiness" of their ads, bad actors use them to install malware on your device. I will NEVER scan a QR code that I did not generate myself. The more you know...

[tsade@gts.curiouscabbit.social]

@JoBlakely My QR code reader shows me the link so I can validate them. Some are fun but I don't trust links in the wild.

I do put them on the back of my books to go to the landing page and links to ebook vendors.

[mikal@sfba.social]

@JoBlakely @weddige @Frantasaur

Most people are unlikely to type in Cyrillic characters (as one example) when hand typing or using voice transcription to input a URL, but could easily mistake those when a phishy URL shows up when they scan the QR code.

QRs remove friction at a time when people really need friction removed, like when being tired, stressed or in a hurry, making it even less likely that someone would catch a scam URL. I think they're dangerous for general use.

[joblakely@mastodon.social]

@Mikal good point.
@weddige @Frantasaur

[staringatclouds@mstdn.social]

@JoBlakely I can't read a QR code, so I have no idea where it will go

I can read a URL though

[thesquirrelfish@sfba.social]

@weddige @Frantasaur @JoBlakely QR codes are generally contextually located so more trustworthy - the restaurant table is a protected space, with the restaurant invested in making sure the QR codes do the right thing, for example.
A URL shortener or unrecognized, unmonitored URL or QR code in the wild real world, and even more so on the Internet, are to be treated with caution.

[joblakely@mastodon.social]

@thesquirrelfish
Makes sense and good advice esp. re: url shorteners.

@weddige @Frantasaur

[joblakely@mastodon.social]

@thesquirrelfish
URL shortener should be really suspect, because there is absolutely no need for one in a QR code.
@weddige @Frantasaur

[davesmeg@mastodon.social]

@JoBlakely Avoid them like the plague.

[realgene@hachyderm.io]

@JoBlakely
I use them for one purpose: Z-Wave "Smart Start" to securely pair new devices.

Z-Wave - Wikipedia

(en.wikipedia.org)

[catsalad@infosec.exchange]

@JoBlakely

[cyberpunklibrarian@masto.hackers.town]

@JoBlakely @catsalad Many of the craft brew pubs I go to use them for their constantly changing draft selections. I don't mind them at all if they're used for something like that.

[gauteweb@mikrobloggen.no]

@JoBlakely Yes, but I prefer to use a QR scanner to see the whole content before I let an app act on it.

[bent0_b0x@norden.social]

@JoBlakely I never use QR codes in public life. I only use them to transfer an url from pc to smartphone.

[unixeno@masto.cubicchaos.net]

@JoBlakely I only use them since GrapheneOS shows the actual link/text with a confirmation screen. When my device doesn't have that, I don't use them.

[joblakely@mastodon.social]

@catsalad
lol. Not gonna do it! Lololol. Is it a rickroll?