About QR Codes
QR codes, or "Quick Response" codes, are two-dimensional barcodes originally developed in Japan in the 1990s for the automotive industry. Unlike traditional barcodes, which are linear and store information in horizontal lines, QR codes store data in both vertical and horizontal patterns, allowing for a greater amount of data to be encoded. These square-shaped codes can be scanned using smartphones or specialized devices. Their versatility and ease of use have led to widespread adoption across various industries, from manufacturing to ticketing and beyond.
Entropy makes use of custom QR codes to encode shares of your secret as they are well suited to our use case:
1) They are suitable for long term offline storage on archival quality paper or other inert materials.
2) QR codes have built-in error correction capability, which allows them to remain readable even when a portion of the code is damaged or obscured.
3) They are easily scannable using a wide variety of hardware.
4) QR codes encode a substantial amount of information within a compact space.
Please note that QR Codes of shares are designed so that when you try to scan them with common software, like your device's default camera app, you'll typically see the word "Entropy" or "ERROR". If you encounter a QR Code that appears to be an Entropy share, always use the Entropy app's 'Reconstruct' feature to scan it, rather than your device's standard camera. The Entropy app is designed to handle only QR codes that are shares of a Secret. It won't ever take you to a website or ask you for a password during the reconstruction stage.
Next: Distributing Shares