Scanning a QR code

is something I have never done. I simply do not have the right sort of phone to do that. 

My phone is an old style "flip top" with the capacity to make and receive calls, receive text messages and (if I could actually do it) send text messages.  Possibly I could do other things on it. I have never bothered to find out. 

The idea of using my phone as a sort of mini-computer with access to the internet and as a means of paying for my milk and cat biscuits is not something I want. The news that scammers are now using fake QR codes over actual codes in an effort to get people to part with their money is even more reason not to do it.

I am finding it increasingly difficult to find ways around the ever growing number of demands to do things "with your phone". Even the local bakery expects people to be "loyalty" customers by using their phones. Why? The idea that you might get a "reward" of some sort is ridiculous. Someone is paying for the reward - almost certainly you in the prices you pay. 

Many years ago my mother made everyone in the family get "Fly-buy" cards - and expected us to use them. I dutifully handed the card over when asked for it and eventually reached about eighteen points - only to lose them again because I did not "use" them in time. Eventually I tossed the card in the bin because I know I will never spend the sort of money which will earn me the "reward" of even a reduced fare. I am simply paying for others to do it.

There are people who might get something from all this I suppose. A local man retired a couple of years ago. About once a week he flies interstate and then drives a car back for someone who needs a car brought into the state. He has set it up as a legitimate business  and it pays well. He likes driving but he is also adding to what are now "Frequent Flyer" points which he apparently plans to use for a holiday of some sort. 

But do I really need to do this? No, I do not. It is the consumer world which wants me to do it. Instead of being a nicely anonymous and cash paying customer they want to know more about me. They want to be able to "guide" my expenditure into areas I do not need or want. They want to make sure I spend what little money I have and make even more sure I spend it with them.

Now I am puzzling over the requirements to enter the UK. Apparently it requires access to a phone that can scan something in order to get the necessary documentation. The site says get someone else to do it if your phone cannot do it. That seems wrong to me. There should not be a requirement to do these things when they put us at risk. It is not going to stop fraudulent behaviour. Criminals will find a way around such things very quickly. The rest of us need to be constantly alert for the unseen nefarious activities of others.

I managed to get through Covid without using a QR code to check in anywhere but how much longer am I going to be able to avoid all this?  How soon before I get caught up and harmed?