QR Codes Advantages and Dangers

Quick Response (QR) codes are two dimensional (matrix) codes that have been developed in ways that allow companies and individuals to sell or market their products, skills, and events quickly and easily. The code can be used to represent data such as a web address or map location that can be scanned quickly by a mobile device such as a smart phone. Tracking inventories and marketers were some of the first uses and users of QR codes because of the ease of deployment and low development cost. The use has also grown quickly amongst individual users who want to transfer information such as sending an invitation, providing details about an event, or even announcing a baby's birth. While there are many advantages in the use of QR codes, there is a negative side that has resulted in end users discontinuing their use. Our paper discusses both the usefulness of QR codes as well as the inconveniences and dangers that they may pose.