Charles,

Think of your QR code like a braille business card; A sighted recipient would need to get it translated, but it's just your text information.  If a blind, evil genius came along, what could they do with it?  

Some QR codes have "favicon" graphics in dead-space of the QR code where they are ignored by the QR reader, but you can't encode a logo into the QR code any more than you could convert a logo into braille.  

Erich


PS:  A related and little known -- by sighted people -- fact:  Braille is heavily encoded and distinctly not "regular text" printed in a raised-dot font.


On Friday, December 1, 2023 at 14:52, Charles Meyer eloquently inscribed:

> Tamarra and Deborah et al,
> 
> Thank you for your posts and questions.
> 
> Thanks to Erich I was able to create a QR code with zint although it
> doesn’t seem to allow me to add our County Library logo.
> 
> It does give me pause re: how that QR code could be used nefariously?
> 
> If I just invite a person to read my QR code with their cell phone QR
> reader could they misappropriate that QR code for unapproved activity?
> 
> Fascinating conversation.
> 
> I so appreciate all these helpful posts.
> 
> Charles.
> 
> Date:    Thu, 30 Nov 2023 09:12:50 -0800
> From:    Tamara Marnell <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: QR Code replacement for business card
> 
> A QR code just represents a string. If anything gets embedded, it will be
> visible in the text. Like in Joe's example, you'd see a different domain
> that forwards to the URL you wanted. If you test it and the decoded string
> is exactly what you put into the generator, it's fine. (Whether the website
> you visited to generate that code is safe is a different question, so I
> second the recommendation of Zint or the tools built into your browser.)
> 
> Most security risks of QR codes are really to the users. If the codes are
> posted in public places--like those little cards on restaurant tables to
> pay for your meal--someone could theoretically cover them up with a
> different code that tricks patrons into giving away their sensitive
> information, or downloads malware to their phones, etc.
> 
> -Tamara