Barcodes and QR codes

Click Codes in the More menu to scan for barcodes and QR codes. Lex Cloak reads them on your computer and flags what it finds for your review. Codes carrying recognizable sensitive data are noted so you can spot them first. A damaged code cannot be read, so the kind of code it is decides what happens next. Kinds that commonly carry personal details, like the dense barcode on the back of a driver's license, arrive switched on and ready to redact. Kinds that commonly carry a product number or a web link, like a QR code, arrive marked review and switched off. Switch one on to redact it. This is a best-effort pass, so check what it found and switch off anything you would rather keep.

Why a barcode is worth checking

A barcode or QR code is text your eye cannot read. Cover the printed name on a wristband and the barcode beside it can still carry the same patient number. The barcode on the back of a driver’s license holds the name, address and date of birth printed on the front. Anyone with a phone can read one in a second, which is what makes a missed code different from a missed word.

Codes are a separate pass, not part of the main scan. Scan the document first, then click Codes in the More menu. Everything happens on your computer, the same as the rest of Lex Cloak.

Reading the two kinds of flag

Most codes can be read, and those are flagged switched on so they redact. When a code is too damaged or too blurred to read, there is no way to know what it says, so the kind of code it is decides how it arrives:

Switched on, ready to redact. Kinds that commonly carry personal details: the dense barcode on the back of a driver’s license, the barcodes on hospital wristbands, lab specimen labels and prescription labels, and the square code on a boarding pass. Leave these on unless you have a reason to keep one.
Marked review, switched off. Kinds that commonly carry a product number or a web link: QR codes and the small square codes used on packaging. These are flagged so you can see them, and they stay in the saved file until you switch one on. If the QR code on your document goes to a patient portal rather than a website, switch it on.

A code marked review shows a dashed amber outline on the page and a review badge in the match list. Switching it on turns it into an ordinary redaction, exactly like any other match you enable. See red boxes and reviewing matches.

Where a code can be missed

Detection works from the picture of the page, so a code that is faint, cropped at the edge, printed at an angle or heavily marked up may not be found at all. Table borders and form boxes can look like a code to a scanner, and those are deliberately left alone rather than flagged, which is the trade that keeps a page of tables from filling with false flags.

For a document where a code carries something sensitive, check the pages by eye as well. Where the scan missed one, hold Shift and drag to draw a redaction over it. See draw a redaction over anything.

Covering a barcode is not like covering a word. A one-dimensional barcode repeats its whole message on every horizontal line, so a box that stops a hair short can leave it readable. Lex Cloak allows for this by drawing the box slightly wider than the code and by re-reading the saved file to confirm nothing still scans. If you draw the box yourself, give it a comfortable margin.