Using barcodes for product authentication

In online retail, counterfeits of high-quality products, including food and beverages, circulate in large numbers. To combat this, scientists are developing a counterfeit-proof barcode system for authenticity verification that uses a smartphone without the need to access a database. It will be presented at interpack.

The SmartID project has been developed by scientists at the Fraunhofer Institutes for Applied Polymer Research IAP, Secure Information Technology SIT and Open Communication Systems.

It takes advantage of the fact that every package possesses a unique, characteristic surface texture, comparable to a human fingerprint. This texture can be detected by smartphone cameras, which will scan the printed barcode and the texture of the surface. The barcode already contains information about the texture. A specially developed app compares whether the information stored in the barcode matches the data from the scanned surface.

The SmartID labelling system not only authenticates products, but may also contain additional information about them. The system is also easy to integrate into commercial printing processes during the manufacture of the packaging.

“With the SmartID technology, everyone in the supply chain — from the manufacturer to the intermediary and customs to the end consumer — will be able to check with a smartphone app whether a product bearing the SmartID code is genuine. The special thing here is that the app operates offline, ie, without access to a database and without a connection to the internet,” said Tobias Jochum, coordinator of the project at the Fraunhofer Center for Applied Nanotechnology CAN in Hamburg.

For manufacturers, there is another advantage because there is no need to use a central database, eliminating various IT security and data protection challenges.

Konrad Öchsner, Innovation Manager at Koenig & Bauer Coding and new advisory board member of the SmartID consortium, said, “The complexity of the IT infrastructure can be significantly reduced by SmartID. Moreover, by avoiding the operation of databases or blockchain applications, no additional carbon dioxide is released, thus reducing the carbon footprint.”

The Fraunhofer consortium will be presenting a first SmartID demonstrator at the stand of the German Engineering Federation VDMA as part of interpack 2023.

“An important requirement for SmartID barcodes is that they occupy as small an area as possible,” Jochum said. “As the project progresses, we are therefore optimising the system in terms of its required area and also its sensitivity. In this context, quantum materials play a key role. They enable significantly more features of the surface texture to be detected on a smaller area. We are already looking forward to discussing various application scenarios with our visitors at the interpack trade fair.”

Image credit: iStock.com/assalve