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Comment by est | Hacker News Reader

> tech that’s well-designed

The only criticism I can think of, is the QR code is too "fat". It would have scanning difficulties in low-light conditions, especially QR readers with cheap cameras with low ISO tolerance. The Base45 encoded bytes should be cut at least by half to make fast scanning possible.

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We've tested it extensively and, on modern hardware it's very easy to scan from a screen.

The paper version is less good as paper bends..

It's about as thin as it can be, given the requirements for offline validation, and the environment it's designed for (airports / other national borders etc).

Nobody wants every verification resulting in a ping back to some central server doing who knows what.

Low-light might not be an issue for people who will show the code on a mobile device. At least in Poland the code is available through the government id iphone/a droid app. Some people may print it, but most will probably just use the app.

Not long ago this kind of technology and anyone working on it would have been given a pretty rough ride on this forum, no matter how well designed. Now it's those raising concerns who are being hounded out with down-voting. How times have changed.

It was tested pretty extensively (and was already in use in public transport) -- including tests in muddy fields @ festivals with bad wifi and bad light.

Do you have a source for this information?

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