Is a car QR code sticker safe? What happens to your number

A QR code is public by design, because anyone needs to be able to scan it. Here is exactly what that person can see, what you receive and what we do to limit misuse.

What the person scanning sees

They open a simple web page that asks them to share their location and, optionally, add a short message. That is all. They do not see your phone number, your name, your address or any details about you. Your number is never sent to their browser.

What you receive

You get a WhatsApp message with the vehicle it is about, the location the person shared and any message they added. It comes from SetuTag's business number, so the person scanning never gets your number and you do not get theirs.

Where your number is kept

Your phone number is stored in encrypted form and is only decrypted at the moment an alert is sent. The person scanning, and anyone looking at the page, cannot retrieve it. See our privacy policy for the full detail.

What about the location they share?

The location is used for the one alert they choose to send. It is held only briefly, to confirm the message was delivered and to send a fallback if it fails, and then deleted.

Can someone misuse it?

Because the QR code is on your vehicle, anyone can scan it, and someone could try to send you unwanted alerts. We limit that in several ways: there is a limit on how often alerts can be sent to one tag, each tag has a fixed total number of alerts, and requests are rate limited. If a tag is being abused, contact us through the contact page and we can deactivate it.

What SetuTag does not do

• It does not track where your vehicle or you are.
• It does not show your name or number to anyone.
• It does not need access to your contacts or your phone.

Read how it works in the car QR code sticker guide.