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Comment by Andys | Hacker News Reader

The way the govt did these codes was ridiculous. Many retailers put them behind a glossy protective plastic, and they are so hard to scan and really slow things down unnecessarily. I guess they were rolled out quickly or by someone inexperienced with QR codes.

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Some retailers go worse, they had someone screenshot the QR code, then printed out a bunch of them at half-size so they could plaster them all over the place (at every table). But because they resized them using some dithering pattern, they start out slightly blurred. It gets worse when they're exposed to moisture (they're sticky-taped to the tables/counters) as the ink then bleeds. Scanning this is a pain.

I’d guess it was probably a combination of a quick roll-out, and also concern that people wouldn’t know what to do with them hence a lot of the text is emphasised. (I could also imagine there was mostly testing in “laboratory” conditions, scanning codes displayed on screens, but hard to say.)

I find that the codes will in fact scan if you use a third party QR app. Luckily, the URL will open directly to the Service NSW app's sign in page, so whoever was in charge of that got something right.

I can't wait to see how dreadful the vaccination passport apps will be. With the current "digital certificate" being a pdf with zero security, it is sure to be laughable.

I've never really had any issues with scanning the QR code

The QR codes are security theatre: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_theater

With cases now in the hundreds/thousands per day in Australia, plus widespread vaccinations, these QR codes are pointless... same as masks and international border restrictions.

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