As I understand it, The key bits of data are in the QR code, they are just encoded as a URL - a highly structured URL that point of sale systems can decode without visiting the URL.
Doing it this way means the QR code is directly usable by consumers to get to a product info / marketing page, and directly usable by the POS systems.
We have the technology to encode a short, plain human-readable description of an item into a 2D barcode, with born-on and/or sell-by dates, and/or things like serialization and/or lot codes, or other useful things.
Brevity is important; fields can have a standardized-but-flexible format that fits the particular item's needs.
A single-quantity small Fuji apple, picked today (October 3, 2026), with a PLU of 4129, and a magic-number lot code of b29sF, distributed by Stemilt Growers might present as such:
Apple Fuji Sm,B0261003,P4129,Lb29sF,MStemilt
A single 1.5 liter bottle of Crystal Geyser spring water with a UPC of 07514000500, a best-by date of January 12 of 2028, and a lot code of kek67:
Water Spring 1.5l,D0280112,U07514000500,Lkek67,MCG
We can even add more real information and still have less data to encode than:
...but, I mean: A coded URL for a website that might be designed to avoid being forthcoming with information isn't necessarily any better for consumers, long-term, than the UPC we've had for over 50 years. It's still just a pointer that relates to someone else's database. It has no informational value on its own.
Absolutely - I 100% expect the links to lead to feel-good marketing fluff at best and end up being useless for consumers, but the stated goals are at least good.
It's just that, sadly, we can no longer have nice things.
If items have unique (ie serialized) codes, then it's safe to assume that those codes will be recorded at purchase (since that's kind of the whole point), along with who bought them (yay discount cards and cashless society).
Now the contents of my pantry describe things like where I've been, when I was there, and/or who I hang out with. Fun times!
Even with cash and without discount cards: One random food label out of a recycling bin can relate all the way to photos of the purchaser's face at checkout, track them walking to their car, and see where that car went. This could happen months or years down the road.
Most of those pieces are already in-place: Our photos are already recorded alongside of our transaction details -- that's been going on in POS world for a long time. Tracking people to their vehicle is a function of Avigilon camera systems. Tracking the car itself is the primary purpose of Flock.
All that's missing right now is serialization records and a centralized database.
I'm sure that nobody will ever finish fitting these things together into a cohesive system and that nobody would ever use it with ill intent.
It probably would never happen anyway, since there's not a single retailer on Earth who would ever exchange this kind of data for an upgrade to their in-store surveillance systems and a monthly check. ;)
(And we still don't get directly-useful consumer information into or out of these new 2D barcodes. I love losing.)
This is already the case. Virtually every single food product comes with an expiration date label - which includes some kind tracking. You pretty much need to have that to do any kind of sensible recall when there's yet another poop lettuce outbreak. Looking at my pantry it usually seems to be include kind of lot number, time of production, and/or production line identifier.
I reckon they already have a pretty reasonable idea of which store it ends up going to, and with just-in-time resupply a pretty reasonable bound of when it will end up having been sold. Look at the overlap of a few dozen products and it should be quite easy to reduce the number of people who could've bought all of them to just you.
The QR codes just make this more explicit, and slightly easier to track. You're not wrong, but at least this time we could get, say, automated warnings in the Walmart app of a recall on something you bought out of it.
Today, with UPCs: We can reckon about whether or not the stuff we buy could be pinned down to a given store, or a transaction. There's lot codes and sell-by dates and stuff on the stuff in my pantry, too. But none of that was recorded when I purchased it.
So it's still a deductive process at best to correlate a lot number and a consumer. If all we have to go on is the implication of a limited range of lot codes, then the results are fuzzy.
Tomorrow, with unique serialization: The right person will absolutely be able to pin down exactly which store a particular can of beans was bought at, and when, and by whom. It's not just something that is made "slightly easier" -- it is instead a fundamental built-in capability of the concept. There's nothing to deduce or to guess at when this unique data is collected and correlated both deliberately, and automatically.
(RFID product tags, commonly known as EPCs, are also usually unique. This property reduces error from duplicate reads. When each tag is unique, it disambiguates a checkout involving 3 packs of #2 pencils from a checkout with just 1 pack of #2 pencils that was read 3 different times.
To pick one standard: SGTIN-96 is often used for EPCs on individual items and includes 38 bits for a serial number. That's enough bits for ~274 billion unique numbers. So with a haystack of 274 billion packages of #2 pencils sold and scattered around the world, the one in my desk drawer is very easy to identify.)
byte-sized-snac · · focus · HN ↗
Surely the actual data will be stored in the QR code and available offline
kiallmacinnes · · focus · HN ↗
Doing it this way means the QR code is directly usable by consumers to get to a product info / marketing page, and directly usable by the POS systems.
Edit: I looked it up. An example URL:
<a href="https://example.com/01/09521207311511/21/1234ABDE1235" rel="nofollow">https://example.com/01/09521207311511/21/1234ABDE1235
01 is a marker before the traditional barcode.
21 is a marker before the serial number.
There seems to be many other codes like 17 (expiry date) and 10 (batch number).
ssl-3 · · focus · HN ↗
We have the technology to encode a short, plain human-readable description of an item into a 2D barcode, with born-on and/or sell-by dates, and/or things like serialization and/or lot codes, or other useful things.
Brevity is important; fields can have a standardized-but-flexible format that fits the particular item's needs.
A single-quantity small Fuji apple, picked today (October 3, 2026), with a PLU of 4129, and a magic-number lot code of b29sF, distributed by Stemilt Growers might present as such:
A single 1.5 liter bottle of Crystal Geyser spring water with a UPC of 07514000500, a best-by date of January 12 of 2028, and a lot code of kek67: We can even add more real information and still have less data to encode than: ...but, I mean: A coded URL for a website that might be designed to avoid being forthcoming with information isn't necessarily any better for consumers, long-term, than the UPC we've had for over 50 years. It's still just a pointer that relates to someone else's database. It has no informational value on its own.kiallmacinnes · · focus · HN ↗
It's just that, sadly, we can no longer have nice things.
ssl-3 · · focus · HN ↗
If items have unique (ie serialized) codes, then it's safe to assume that those codes will be recorded at purchase (since that's kind of the whole point), along with who bought them (yay discount cards and cashless society).
Now the contents of my pantry describe things like where I've been, when I was there, and/or who I hang out with. Fun times!
Even with cash and without discount cards: One random food label out of a recycling bin can relate all the way to photos of the purchaser's face at checkout, track them walking to their car, and see where that car went. This could happen months or years down the road.
Most of those pieces are already in-place: Our photos are already recorded alongside of our transaction details -- that's been going on in POS world for a long time. Tracking people to their vehicle is a function of Avigilon camera systems. Tracking the car itself is the primary purpose of Flock.
All that's missing right now is serialization records and a centralized database.
I'm sure that nobody will ever finish fitting these things together into a cohesive system and that nobody would ever use it with ill intent.
It probably would never happen anyway, since there's not a single retailer on Earth who would ever exchange this kind of data for an upgrade to their in-store surveillance systems and a monthly check. ;)
(And we still don't get directly-useful consumer information into or out of these new 2D barcodes. I love losing.)
crote · · focus · HN ↗
I reckon they already have a pretty reasonable idea of which store it ends up going to, and with just-in-time resupply a pretty reasonable bound of when it will end up having been sold. Look at the overlap of a few dozen products and it should be quite easy to reduce the number of people who could've bought all of them to just you.
The QR codes just make this more explicit, and slightly easier to track. You're not wrong, but at least this time we could get, say, automated warnings in the Walmart app of a recall on something you bought out of it.
ssl-3 · · focus · HN ↗
So it's still a deductive process at best to correlate a lot number and a consumer. If all we have to go on is the implication of a limited range of lot codes, then the results are fuzzy.
Tomorrow, with unique serialization: The right person will absolutely be able to pin down exactly which store a particular can of beans was bought at, and when, and by whom. It's not just something that is made "slightly easier" -- it is instead a fundamental built-in capability of the concept. There's nothing to deduce or to guess at when this unique data is collected and correlated both deliberately, and automatically.
(RFID product tags, commonly known as EPCs, are also usually unique. This property reduces error from duplicate reads. When each tag is unique, it disambiguates a checkout involving 3 packs of #2 pencils from a checkout with just 1 pack of #2 pencils that was read 3 different times.
To pick one standard: SGTIN-96 is often used for EPCs on individual items and includes 38 bits for a serial number. That's enough bits for ~274 billion unique numbers. So with a haystack of 274 billion packages of #2 pencils sold and scattered around the world, the one in my desk drawer is very easy to identify.)
cxr · · focus · HN ↗
petra · · focus · HN ↗
atvcatole · · focus · HN ↗