QR Code-Based Access Control Systems: Architectural Taxonomy, Security Landscape, and Future Research Directions

Abstract: Access control systems secure physical and digital settings, especially in colleges, businesses, and restricted areas. Physical key, magnetic card, and biometric access control techniques have loss, duplication, high deployment costs, and maintenance complexity. With the widespread adoption of smartphones, QR code-based access control systems (QR-ACS) have emerged as a flexible and cost-effective alternative. Scannable QR codes allow fast authentication without hardware, boosting user ease. How QR codes are generated, handled, and checked in the system determines the success of QR-based access control. This systematic review examines the integration and evolution of QR Code-Based Access Control Systems (QR-ACS), with particular attention to both recent innovations and the challenges that continue to accompany their adoption. A broad set of studies published between 2015 and 2023 was reviewed in order to explore how these systems have been designed, implemented, and evaluated across different application contexts. The analysis draws on literature indexed in major academic databases, including IEEE Xplore, ACM Digital Library, and JSTOR, with an emphasis on system architecture, implementation strategies, and reported performance outcomes. Overall, the reviewed studies indicate that QR-ACS can enhance operational efficiency and offer practical security benefits, especially when combined with complementary technologies. At the same time, recurring concerns related to security, robustness, and deployment limitations remain evident. This systematic review analyzes QR-ACS architectures, security mechanisms, and threat models, with particular emphasis on IoT integration, authentication strategies, and risk-aware system design.

Worood Alsawi and Dina M. Ibrahim. “QR Code-Based Access Control Systems: Architectural Taxonomy, Security Landscape, and Future Research Directions”. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications (IJACSA) 17.4 (2026). http://dx.doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2026.0170458

@article{Alsawi2026,
title = {QR Code-Based Access Control Systems: Architectural Taxonomy, Security Landscape, and Future Research Directions},
journal = {International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications},
doi = {10.14569/IJACSA.2026.0170458},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2026.0170458},
year = {2026},
publisher = {The Science and Information Organization},
volume = {17},
number = {4},
author = {Worood Alsawi and Dina M. Ibrahim}
}