Smartphone Readable Security Features and Insights from Their Application in Other Markets

The advent of the smartphone has led to a surge in the development of smartphone readable security features.

The aim of these technologies is to enable digital authentication without the need for special readers, which is a common requirement for high security features like taggants. Whereas readers are often lost in the field and challenging to upgrade, smartphones make it easy for inspectors to always have an up-to-date reader that is guaranteed to be by their side.

While most of these features have not made their way onto tax stamps, we can glean several insights from how they are being used in other markets. This article provides a high-level review of the smartphone readable features available today and shines light on some of the key experiments that have been conducted in markets like luxury goods and packaging.

2D codes

Two-dimensional (2D) codes are likely the first smartphone readable features that come to mind. They are easy to create, standardized, and compatible with a wide range of printing technologies.