Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by edent 952 days ago
Not really.

Google killed off their "Physical Web" integration which means that people need to install a specific app if they want to interact with the beacons.

If you want to track visitors (and have the requisite privacy policy) then Cisco and others will sell you an AP which tracks people using their phones.

QR codes are booming though. Cheap to set up and easy to use.
2 comments
bellamystudio 952 days ago
I'm going to build it in React Native and there are some libraries that could help rather than have to use a specific app, eg https://github.com/MacKentoch/react-native-beacons-manager

I don't want to do anything invasive like actually track visitors, I just want to be able to offer helpful "You're near X exhibit" type notifications. Obviously if there's a group close together than it may just become annoying/unnecessary - I'll have to figure that out as I talk to the curators.

QR codes are a good backup and would mean that they wouldn't need an app at all (although I would love to build them one!)

link
jqpabc123 952 days ago
QR codes are booming though. Cheap to set up and easy to use.

And totally insecure --- as in anyone can make a copy and share it.

This is possible with beacons as well but not as easily nor without cost. And beacons can offer greater ease of use --- no need to scan.

There are applications for each.

link
BjoernKW 952 days ago
> And totally insecure --- as in anyone can make a copy and share it.

Which is totally fine for the use case at hand and not a security issue at all, in this case. For other use cases, such as advertising, sharing would even be desired behaviour.

A possible security issue for the museum use case rather would be a malicious actor replacing the QR code with their own, thereby trying to have visitors download malware to their phones.

link
Someone 952 days ago
> For other use cases, such as advertising, sharing would even be desired behaviour.

Not necessarily. It could be used to associate the advertiser with something they don’t want to be associated with.

Depending on what the QR code leads to, that may have to be a subtle difference.

For example, if I copy a QR code for a Greenpeace campaign and place them at the Indianapolis speedway, or at a hunting event, theres a chance that those who read the code will think that Greenpeace placed them there in an attempt to comment on the badness of those events, but what if the link leads to a “good to see you here” or fairly generic “support this green event” web page, things may be different.

link
jqpabc123 952 days ago
QR Codes are like URL links in spam email.

They can be easily generated/distributed at almost no cost and it's difficult to tell in advance if one is malicious or not.

link