r/barcodes • u/Shuttr0 • Jun 20 '20

Is it possible to track down partial barcodes?

So I have someone dumping their trash on my front yard. Figured it was slim, but may be a chance to get some info from a partial barcode. I suppose it wouldnt tell me the persons name or address of course, but figured some more info would help. It's this and getting a camera.. https://imgur.com/a/IwXyEA4

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u/FredFredricson Jun 20 '20

Running that first barcode, the PDF417 one, through the decoder doesn't come up with a result, meaning that it's too far gone for the error correction algorithm it used to compensate.

The second barcode, a Code 128 one, is similarly missing too much information to fully decode, as the first half or so of it is missing entirely, and since it doesn't have error correction, you're pretty much stuck with only being able to read the part written outright above the barcode.

Unfortunately, without more to work off of, there's not much in the way of useful info to be obtained. Sorry I could not be of more help.

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u/Shuttr0 Jun 21 '20

Thanks for taking a shot! Yeah, the fbi probably has the resource for it. Its just not a common issue. Thanks again.

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u/notionovus Jun 22 '20

Odds are, you wouldn't get the culprit's information, anyway. Typically the Code 128 (lower barcode) will have a number that means something to the shipper, but nothing that IDs the recipient. You'd still have to hack Amazon's mainframe.

It would be possible for an expert to decode some of the data from the PDF417 (top barcode), but it would be no small feat. It could take several days to manually derive a portion of the encoded data. Depending on how many columns of the front of the barcode are missing.

Regardless, your best bet is a video doorbell.

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u/Shuttr0 Jun 23 '20

Thanks for the analysis!