Scan QR code? To prove you are human, Google wants you to link your phone with websites you visit

Google runs reCAPTCHA network across the internet, which a lot of people positively hate. But an upcoming QR code verification, may turn out to be even more cumbersome and bothersome given its poor privacy aspect.

In Short

• Google is reportedly testing new reCAPTCHA system
• Users may need to scan QR code to visit websites
• People are already highlighting problematic parts with new system

CAPTCHA tests can be annoying. Aimed at sorting bots from humans, these systems actually test the limit of your human patience. It is likely that you have often found yourself questioning your own eyes, trying to spot a bicycle when all you wanted was to visit a webpage. Well, Google may have a solution for you. But the solution, which is going to involve scanning a QR code, seems to be so bothersome that already people are slamming it left and right.

The idea, as seen in screenshots floating around on the web, is simple. Instead of solving a CAPTCHA by identifying cars and bicycles, the new system will mandate that users to a particular website scan a QR code using their phone. This QR code will then read details from Google Play Services installed on phones, effectively letting Google know the person who is visiting the website and which website.

At least, that seems to be the mechanism, although Google has not yet clarified how the system will work. But on the face of it, the QR code linking with website visits seems like a huge privacy snafu.

Information floating on the web suggests Google is working on a next-generation reCAPTCHA system. As per a Reddit post by user “gib_me_gold” on a de-Google subreddit, Google may be planning to replace the image-based CAPTCHA checks with a QR code that asks you to prove if you are human.

Now this may seem like a welcome step at first. After all, it can save you a lot of time and patience as you won’t have to spot fire hydrants on a road anymore and unknowingly train Google’s driverless cars. But there seems to be a catch. The QR code will link this activity to Google Play Services on your Android phone.

Google wants websites you visit linked to your phone?

The Reddit post shows a screenshot of a Google support page on troubleshooting reCAPTCHA verification on mobile. The page says users need a compatible mobile device to complete verification, and on Android that requires Google Play Services version 25.41.30 or higher.

This in effect means that once you check out a website by scanning the QR code, the website will be linked to your Android phone, irrespective of the browser you used to visit the website, or whether you signed-in with your Google account or not on the browser. That is because if you are using Google Play Services, you will invariably be signed on your phone.

As per Landbase, over 5.3 million companies use Google reCAPTCHA. In effect, Android users may be unable to visit millions of websites without linking their phone to web activity. Now, chances are that details of your Google Play Services will not be shared with the websites you are visiting. But there are also chances that Google will get this information.

In case you are wondering about iPhone users, the webpage says that you can download the reCAPTCHA app on your iPhone to pass this QR test, without needing Google Play Services.

Is Google cracking down on de-Googled phones?

There seems to be another problem with this QR system – de-Googled phones. Unlike most Android devices, de-Googled phones – think of phones that run on custom ROMs like GrapheneOS – strip out all Google apps, including Google Play Services.

This means that if you are using a custom ROM phone without Google services, you will likely fail the QR-based verification.

The system might have been in the works for some time now. PiunikaWeb reports that Google has been laying the groundwork for this mobile verification method since October last year. An Internet Archive snapshot from October 2025 also showed the same support page listing a Play Services requirement, then at version 25.39.30.

- Ends