'Convenience comes at a price': Experts urge caution on QR codes

With the rise in popularity of QR codes at restaurants and other businesses during the pandemic, privacy and cyber security experts are urging Canadians to be cautious in their use of the technology.

While the technology has been around since the early 90s, “quick response” or “QR” codes have experienced a rapid resurgence during the pandemic. The unique black-and-white squares – which serve as a kind of bar code – replaced physical menus at restaurants and other paper forms during the early push to provide touchless service and avoid further spread of COVID-19.

Instead of handling a menu or filling out a check-in document, customers could use their smartphones to quickly scan a QR code, which would take them to a digital menu or online contact tracing form, for example.

And although the science on COVID-19 has been updated to show the disease is not as easily spread by contaminated surfaces as it was first thought, businesses have continued to make use of QR codes for their convenience and other advantages. Some of those perks include cost savings in not printing menus, the ease of editing a menu online, and the ability to collect information on their customers’ preferences to cater to them.

But are there any potential downsides to this QR code technology that’s being embraced so widely?