Do you use QR codes or do you avoid them?
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@JoBlakely less risk of mistyping and accessibility for people struggling typing.
@weddige thank you. I figured there were accessibility benefits, and even maybe less risk of going to the wrong or phishing site by accident.
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Do you use QR codes or do you avoid them?
Please boost for more replies. Thanks.@JoBlakely i think it depends entirely on the context.... at a restaurant? fuck no! i'm with the boomers on that one, but to login to steam or jellyfin? hell yeah!
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@JoBlakely Of course. Anything is better than typing in a URL. I own an English school in Japan and using QR codes to help my students access what they need has been a really game changer.
Also, I have a QR code on a poster in the front window of my school that interested people can scan to access our website.
@softicecreamlesley @JoBlakely I can see using them inside a closed context like a school. Very convenient.
But in public?
The local bikeshare uses QR codes to access the bikes. But of course someone has hacked that by putting stickers over the real QR codes, so people actually pay someone else
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Yeah, I'm *really* cautious, in public. -
@softicecreamlesley @JoBlakely I can see using them inside a closed context like a school. Very convenient.
But in public?
The local bikeshare uses QR codes to access the bikes. But of course someone has hacked that by putting stickers over the real QR codes, so people actually pay someone else
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Yeah, I'm *really* cautious, in public.@deborahh
I heard about that too. Yikes.
@softicecreamlesley -
@deborahh
I heard about that too. Yikes.
@softicecreamlesley@deborahh It depends on where you live. That happened to my friend in Britian but I’ve never heard of it happening in Japan. In any case, it sounds like how @JoBlakely would be using it would not be in a public context.
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Do you use QR codes or do you avoid them?
Please boost for more replies. Thanks.@JoBlakely, does using a barcode scanner to "copy" QR codes to open parcel machines count?
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@JoBlakely, does using a barcode scanner to "copy" QR codes to open parcel machines count?
@mgorny no. I don’t think so.
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It seems that so far, regardless I have to print the website in text. So is there any benefit to using a QR code?
@JoBlakely if the website is printed in text that's best case scenario! That way you know what the URL should look like when you scan it, so you don't have to type but can still compare. -
@JoBlakely if the website is printed in text that's best case scenario! That way you know what the URL should look like when you scan it, so you don't have to type but can still compare.
@len yeah. I’d do both regardless.
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Do you use QR codes or do you avoid them?
Please boost for more replies. Thanks.@JoBlakely my avoidance is helped by my phone not reading them, much to my wife's annoyance.
I'm curious if there's a correlation between users/non users and age.
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@JoBlakely my avoidance is helped by my phone not reading them, much to my wife's annoyance.
I'm curious if there's a correlation between users/non users and age.
@BadgerDad
In addition to almost never taking my mobile phone with me, I also have that option turned off. I turned it on once to use to test my own QR code on my business postcards, then turned it back off. I limit what has access to my camera heavily. -
@JoBlakely
I avoid them, though I do often think about pasting over QR codes in public spaces with different QR codes that lead somewhere else. In a lot of scenarios it would be quite easy to do.@artemis @JoBlakely I've seen multiple times a QR code sticker pasted over top the original. That's why I'm very cautios scanning these things I'm public
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Do you use QR codes or do you avoid them?
Please boost for more replies. Thanks.@JoBlakely I’d rather a plain-text URL so I can see where it leads.
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@artemis @JoBlakely I've seen multiple times a QR code sticker pasted over top the original. That's why I'm very cautios scanning these things I'm public
@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.
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Do you use QR codes or do you avoid them?
Please boost for more replies. Thanks.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.
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@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.
@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.
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Do you use QR codes or do you avoid them?
Please boost for more replies. Thanks.@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...
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Do you use QR codes or do you avoid them?
Please boost for more replies. Thanks.@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.
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@weddige @Frantasaur
Yeah, that was what I figured too.
You just need to have some discernment going to any site. Even then there is always some, often significant, risk.@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.
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@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.
@Mikal good point.
@weddige @Frantasaur
