QR codes have become common, and they can be used as a quick way to share information. With a bit of work, they can also be used to provide access to emergency contact information, for example in passports or phone lock screen wallpaper, in the unfortunate situation where emergency services may need to know who you are, or who to contact.
There are some services which provide this for a small fee, but here’s how you can do it for free.
All you need is a cloud file storage service (such as Google Drive, OneDrive or Dropbox, to name a few) where you can share files using links.
- Create a plain text file containing the information you want to have available. For example, you may want to have your partner’s or parent’s details, allergy information, hotel information if you are travelling.
- Upload this file into your cloud storage. Save it to a location where you won’t put anything else for example, a folder named “Emergency Info”, and give the file a suitable name.
- The cloud storage will usually have a “share” option for files. Using this, share the file as a URL, and set the rights so that people can only read the file – you don’t want others to make changes.
- Make a copy of the URL, and save this into a new text file. This file can be put in the same cloud location, so you can easily check the URLs.
- It is likely the URL you get will be quite long, though the consumer version of OneDrive gives a short version of the URL anyway. While you can use it in a QR code as-is, the image will end up being large. Search for a ‘URL Shortening’ service to generate a short version of the link. Once you have the short version, save this into the same text file where the original long version is.
- Search for a ‘QR code generator’, and paste in the shortened URL to get the QR code image.
- Save the QR code image to your cloud folder.
Your cloud folder should now have three files:
A text file with your emergency contact information.
A text file with the URLs.
The QR code as an image file.
Test the code by scanning it with a QR code reader app on your phone, and checking the text file is opened.
You now have contact information available which can be viewed relatively easily, and can be updated whenever necessary without having to change the code. The URL will stay the same unless the file is permanently removed from the cloud storage.
Usage options:
If you use a lock screen wallpaper on your phone, copy the image to your computer and open it in an image editor such as Paint. Add the QR code to the image, and copy the updated file back to your phone. Set this as the new lock screen wallpaper.
Print out some small versions:
– Tape to the emergency contact page of your passport.
– Tape to the inside of your wallet or purse.