What we record when someone scans

QR BASE records visits through a code’s short link, including roughly where the visit came from and what kind of device was used. Opening the short link directly is recorded in the same way as scanning the printed code. Recognised bots and link previews are excluded.

What we keep for each scan#

• The date and time.
• The country and city, estimated from the IP address. We use a location database on our own server for this lookup, without sending the IP address to an external location service. The IP address used for the lookup is not saved in the scan record.
• The device type, operating system and browser, such as “smartphone, iOS, Mobile Safari”.
• The referring URL, if the browser supplies one. This may contain identifying information if it is included in the address.
• A daily visitor identifier, used to estimate repeat visits.

CSV exports include the scan details above except the visitor identifier. See Export scans to Excel.

Cookies and destination websites#

QR BASE’s short-link step does not set cookies or run tracking scripts for scan analytics. After that step, the destination website or PDF hosting service handles the visit. Its privacy practices may differ. A destination website may use cookies or analytics of its own, including Google Analytics if you have set it up there.

How unique visitors are counted#

QR BASE generates a visitor identifier from the IP address, browser information and UTC date. The identifier changes every day at midnight UTC, so it is used to estimate repeat visits within the same UTC day. It does not contain the IP address or the visitor’s name, and QR BASE does not use it to link visits across days.

This is an estimate: people sharing a network may count as one, and the same person using different browsers or networks may count more than once. Charts group scans by your team’s timezone, which can differ from the UTC day used by the identifier.

Questions from customers#

You can share this page to explain QR BASE’s scan analytics. For information about the page or file that opens after scanning, also share the destination’s privacy information.