What happens when someone scans your QR code? Discover exactly what data Linkbreakers collects with advanced tracking and how each field helps you understand your audience better.
Most link shorteners tell you how many clicks you got and maybe where they came from. Linkbreakers goes deeper. Much deeper. When you enable advanced data collection, every scan creates a detailed snapshot of the device, network, and environment that interacted with your content.
This isn't about surveillance. It's about understanding your audience so you can serve them better. But what exactly does Linkbreakers collect, and what do all those fields mean? Let's break it down.
Before diving into the technical details, it helps to understand why this data exists in the first place. You can't optimize what you don't measure.
Say you're running a marketing campaign across multiple channels. You notice some QR codes perform better than others. Without device data, you're flying blind. With it, you might discover your mobile landing page looks terrible on older Android devices, or that users on slow 3G connections bounce immediately.
Each data point tells part of a story. Together, they reveal patterns you'd never spot otherwise.
When someone scans your QR code, Linkbreakers immediately captures their device fingerprint. Think of this as a hardware census.
Type tells you whether they're on desktop, mobile, or tablet. This matters more than you'd think because user behavior varies wildly across device types. Mobile users scroll differently, click differently, and have different patience thresholds.
Brand and Model drill deeper. An Apple user on an iPhone 15 Pro has a completely different experience than someone nursing a three-year-old budget Android. These details help you understand your audience's technical capabilities and spending habits.
Version tracks the specific hardware iteration. Sometimes it's marked as a dash when the data isn't available or the device doesn't broadcast this information. That's normal.
Touchscreen seems obvious but becomes crucial when you're optimizing interactive elements. A desktop user without touch needs larger click targets and different hover states than a tablet user who'll tap directly.
GPU reveals the graphics processing unit powering the device. You'll see entries like "ANGLE (Apple, ANGLE Metal Renderer: Apple M4 Pro, Unspecified Version)". This cryptic string tells you exactly what hardware is rendering your content. For graphics-heavy campaigns or web apps, this data becomes invaluable.
Device ID assigns a unique identifier to each device. Linkbreakers generates this hash (something like "abe99edd-0ff2-49a1-9143-11f4ea7bd80c") to track return visitors without using invasive tracking methods. When someone scans multiple QR codes from your workspace or rescans the same code later, this ID connects those interactions.
Your content doesn't run on raw hardware. It runs through layers of software, and each layer affects the user experience.
Platform captures the operating system and version. "macOS 10.15.7" or "Windows 11" or "Android 13". This single field explains countless rendering bugs and compatibility issues. That CSS feature you love might not work on their OS version.
Browser identifies which browser they're using and its exact version. Chrome 139.0.0.0 behaves differently than Safari 16 or Firefox 118. Browser choice reveals technical sophistication too; Edge users tend to be less tech-savvy than Firefox users.
Languages lists their browser's language preferences. "en-US, en" means they prefer US English first, then generic English. This helps you serve localized content automatically and understand your geographic reach better than IP addresses alone.
User Agent provides the full technical string the browser sends with every request. It's verbose and technical (Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; Intel Mac OS X 10_15_7) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/139.0.0.0 Safari/537.36) but contains precise version information that other fields summarize. Security researchers and developers use this for detailed debugging.
People experience your content through their screen. Screen properties dramatically affect what they see and how they interact.
Resolution measures the screen in pixels. 1920 × 1080 means a standard HD display. But a mobile device with 1920 × 1080 has the same resolution packed into a much smaller physical screen. That's why resolution alone doesn't tell the whole story.
Ratio captures the pixel density ratio. A value of "1" means standard density. A value of "2" indicates a Retina or high-DPI display where each logical pixel actually uses four physical pixels. This affects image quality and whether your graphics look crisp or blurry.
Understanding screen properties helps you optimize image sizes and responsive breakpoints. There's no point serving massive 4K images to someone on a phone with a 720p screen.
The network layer often gets overlooked, but it's where user experience lives or dies. A beautiful landing page is worthless if it takes 30 seconds to load.
Connection identifies the network type. Values like "4g", "5g", "wifi", or "ethernet" reveal connection quality before any data moves. A 4G user has different constraints than someone on gigabit fiber.
Bandwidth measures download speed in megabits per second. "10 Mbps" might be fast enough for text and images but struggles with video. This metric helps you decide what media formats to serve.
RTT stands for Round Trip Time, measured in milliseconds. This measures latency, how long data takes to travel from the user's device to your server and back. "150 ms" means noticeable lag but acceptable performance. Anything over 300 ms feels sluggish. Low latency matters more than bandwidth for interactive experiences.
Concurrency indicates how many parallel connections the browser can maintain. A value of "14" means the browser can download 14 resources simultaneously. Higher numbers speed up page loads for sites with many assets.
Memory reports the device's RAM in gigabytes. "8 GB" suggests a mid-range to high-end device. Low memory devices struggle with JavaScript-heavy sites and multiple browser tabs.
IP Address identifies the network address. Sometimes you'll see proxy IPs or CDN addresses rather than the user's real IP. Linkbreakers shows what it receives; the rest depends on the user's network configuration.
Geographic data helps you understand your market and serve localized content. But IP geolocation isn't GPS-precise, it approximates location based on network infrastructure.
Country identifies the nation, like "France". This is usually accurate but can be wrong if someone uses a VPN.
Region provides a regional code. "13" corresponds to a specific administrative region. These codes follow standards but require looking up what they mean.
State offers another geographic subdivision. In some cases, this field shows as a dash when the data isn't available or the region doesn't map to a traditional state structure.
City narrows it down further. "Marseille" tells you the approximate metro area. Remember, this derives from IP geolocation, so a person in a nearby suburb might show up as being in the main city.
Timezone reveals the user's time context. "Europe/Paris" tells you they're in Central European Time. This helps you understand when they're active and what "9 AM" means for them. It's crucial for timing campaigns and support availability.
You'll notice location appears twice in the data structure. That's intentional. The system captures initial location and can update it if the user moves or changes networks.
Every interaction exists in time. The timestamp fields track when things happen and create an audit trail.
Created marks the first time Linkbreakers saw this device. "9/29/2025, 7:14:08 PM" tells you exactly when the device first appeared in your workspace. This remains constant for that device.
Last Used updates each time the device interacts with any QR code in your workspace or rescans a code they've hit before. By comparing Created and Last Used, you can identify one-time visitors versus repeat customers.
Updated captures the last time any data about this device changed. "9/29/2025, 7:14:14 PM" might be slightly newer than Last Used if the system updated derived fields or enriched the data after the initial scan.
These timestamps help you analyze user behavior over time. How long between first visit and conversion? Which devices return most often? Are there patterns in when people scan your codes?
Raw data becomes valuable when you ask the right questions. Here's what you can learn:
A spike in 3G connections explains sudden bounce rate increases. That video you embedded is killing mobile performance. Your primarily desktop audience suggests B2B focus rather than consumer. Heavy concentration of Apple devices indicates affluent demographics. High return rate on specific device IDs shows engaged users worth nurturing.
The beauty of advanced data collection is granularity. You're not guessing. You're measuring. Every field adds context, and context drives better decisions.
Collecting this much data comes with responsibility. Linkbreakers generates device IDs as anonymous identifiers, not personal data. There are no names, emails, or personally identifying information in these fields unless you decide to do so via advanced forms / CRM cross-collection.
However, the combination of many data points can create a unique fingerprint. Be transparent about what you collect and why. Most privacy regulations require clear disclosure and a legitimate purpose.
Use this data to improve user experience, not to invade privacy. The goal is understanding patterns, not tracking individuals.
Advanced data collection transforms link analytics from simple counts into behavioral insights. You move from "how many?" to "who, when, where, and how?"
This depth matters when you're serious about optimization. A/B testing makes sense when you can segment by device type. Personalization works when you understand connection speeds. Support improves when you know what environments people use.
The data is there. The question is what you'll do with it.
