Short Links: Why QR Codes Use One

What Actually Happens When Someone Scans

The camera reads a short address out of the code and opens it. The server at that address answers with a redirect, which tells the phone where to go next, and the phone follows it. The whole exchange takes a moment and the person scanning normally never sees the intermediate step. What matters is where the decision is made: on the server, at the moment of the scan, not in the printed code.

Why It Keeps the Code Small

A QR code grows with its contents. Put a full contact into one and you get a dense grid that needs good light and patience. Put a short link into one and the grid is sparse, large-moduled and reads from distance, at an angle, on a bad camera, through the plastic of a badge holder. That reliability is not cosmetic: a code that fails to scan is a conversation that does not happen.

The Risk, Stated Plainly

A short link hides its destination, which is why they are treated with suspicion. Anyone scanning is trusting whoever controls that domain. Two things make this reasonable rather than reckless: the link should live on a domain that identifies the service, and the destination should be a page, not a download. A link that immediately pushes a file at someone is the behaviour people are right to fear.

What Happens If You Stop Paying

This is the question worth asking any provider, because the honest answer varies. Here, a card is paused rather than deleted: the link and the printed code keep their meaning, and subscribing again restores the card they point to. What you should never accept is a provider that recycles a short link to another customer, because every code you printed then points at a stranger.

Frequently asked questions

Why not put my contact details straight into the QR code?

Because they are then fixed. Change your number and every printed code is wrong, and there is no way to update them. A link lets the destination change while the code stays the same.

Do short links expire?

That depends entirely on the provider. On a VCardForever card the link keeps working while the account is active, and a lapsed card is paused rather than reassigned.

Are short links safe to scan?

They hide the destination, so judgement is reasonable. Scanning one from a card someone handed you in person is low risk; scanning one from a sticker on a parking meter is not.

Keep reading

Related terms

QR CodeA QR code (Quick Response code) is a two-dimensional barcode, a square grid of dark and light modules, that stores text such as a web address and can be read by a phone camera. Unlike a traditional barcode it holds data in both directions and still scans when partly damaged or obscured.Dynamic QR CodeA dynamic QR code encodes a short, fixed redirect link rather than the destination itself, so the destination can be changed at any time without altering or reprinting the code. Because the printed pattern never changes, a dynamic code can be edited after printing and can count its scans.QR Code Business CardA QR code business card is a business card whose contact details are reached by scanning a printed QR code. The code can either encode the details directly, which fixes them permanently, or point at a contact page, which keeps them editable after printing.QR Code ScanningQR code scanning is the act of pointing a phone camera at a QR code so the phone reads the pattern and acts on what it holds, usually by offering to open a web address. Modern iPhones and Android phones do this in the built-in camera app, with no separate scanner required.

Put this into practice with your own card

Put your details on one card page, share it by link or QR code, and change them whenever they change. The printed code keeps working. No credit card required to start.

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