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I'm doing research for my project on scanning ID cards to retrieve the data stored on them. Initially, I attempted to use a barcode scanner to scan the card but nothing was retrieved. The barcode scanner is functional and works well when I test it on barcodes I generated online. All the data is retrieved from those barcodes but not the one on the card. I had to think about why it wouldn't work and I think the barcode is actually a magnetic stripe. Is there any way to hard code a magnetic stripe reader in android similar to a barcode scanner. Do I have to use a device or is there any way around that? There's no payment involved. I just want the information to perform other actions.

Thank you.

High Roller
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As far as i know, there is no other simple way to retrieve information from the magnetic stripe, than by using the magnetic stripe reader. If it would be any help, try to use RFID cards instead. It is very easy and cheap to set up a RFID reader with arduino. Ive done many projects using it myself. Try to look up MFRC-522 reader.

[EDIT] Just realized you want to work with android. If your phone supports NFC, you can use NFC compatible tags/cards. There are many apps that can read/write to data to/from cards.

Samuel Gregorovič
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  • I was hoping to use a scanner type app but if it's impossible i'll check out NFC. I was hoping not to change the IDcard features since it belongs to a school. Thank you though. – High Roller Jun 07 '19 at 12:43