China's QR Code Toilet Paper Trials Spark Backlash Over Ads, Fees and Privacy

A phone scan stands between users and toilet paper

Some public toilets in China are testing dispensers that require visitors to scan a QR code and watch an advertisement before receiving a small amount of toilet paper. Anyone wanting to skip the commercial can pay 0.5 yuan, roughly seven US cents, for immediate access.

As of October 20, 2025, the trials have prompted an online backlash and a stream of videos showing people struggling with, or expressing annoyance at, the machines. City officials describe the system as a way to reduce waste and stop visitors from taking large quantities of paper from public facilities.

A basic bathroom supply has become tied to a working phone, an internet connection and either a person's attention or a small payment. For someone with a dead battery, weak mobile service or no smartphone payment app, even a modest digital requirement can become an urgent practical problem.

Local governments have not said how many machines are installed or where the pilots might expand. The amount of paper available per advertisement is not publicly standardized, and details about the collection and handling of users' data remain unclear, including whether personal information is anonymized.

China's busy parks and transit hubs have long faced complaints about paper theft and excessive use. Many public bathrooms provide no paper at all, so residents commonly carry tissues. Where free rolls are supplied, managers say some visitors take far more than they need. The new dispensers seek to control those losses while helping pay operating costs, but users are questioning the price in convenience and dignity.

How the machines release paper

The dispensers are mounted on restroom walls near sinks or stalls. A small screen or optical sensor presents a QR code, which a visitor scans with a phone. The scan opens a service that plays a promotional video before the machine releases a fixed quantity of paper.

Videos and descriptions of the machines suggest that advertisements last several seconds, sometimes around 30 seconds. Someone needing another portion repeats the process or selects the paid option. Paying skips the advertisement and releases another measure immediately.

Each dispenser connects to an advertising platform through a wireless module that uses little power. The platform can send different advertisements to different locations, allowing operators to change the videos without dispatching a technician.

A preset paper length and limits between requests help control consumption. Earlier rationing machines typically provided about 60 centimeters of paper and prevented the same person from getting more for nine to ten minutes. The current machines use phone scans rather than face scans, and their waiting periods may be shorter, depending on the model and city.

Videos show users receiving a small handful of paper. The arrangement is intended to encourage reasonable use while allowing someone to pay for more quickly. Its usefulness depends on the length dispensed, the interval between requests and whether an attendant can help when the standard amount is insufficient.

The fee itself is small. Much of the objection concerns the circumstances: users may need paper immediately, leaving little room to troubleshoot a connection or wait through an advertisement.

Why managers want tighter control

Municipal managers point to recurring losses at busy parks, museums and transit hubs. Staff have described visitors putting rolls into bags or pulling out long lengths for purposes unrelated to using the restroom. Public appeals to use less have not solved the problem on their own.

Restocking paper throughout the day costs money and staff time. Excess paper also fills rubbish bins, increasing the amount of waste that needs collecting. For officials responsible for keeping bathrooms clean and supplied, those pressures make rationing attractive.

The machines limit how much an individual can take and discourage casual theft. Advertising creates another source of money to help cover paper and maintenance costs. Supporters argue that QR code systems are easier to install and maintain than equipment that scans faces, while avoiding the capture of facial information.

Managers see an opportunity to keep supplies available without allowing unrestricted access to whole rolls. Users, however, encounter the policy at a particularly sensitive moment. A commercial message placed between a person and a basic bathroom need has turned a question about waste into a wider argument about selling advertising within public services.

Online anger centers on dignity and urgency

Social media users inside and outside China have reacted sharply. Some describe the machines as dystopian; others treat them as a joke and say they will encourage more people to bring their own tissues. Beneath the humor is concern that the system makes a simple public service unnecessarily difficult.

A user on X, whose criticism was widely shared, summed up the objection as a loss of dignity in exchange for advertising views:

In China even toilet paper forces you to watch ads. Dignity is no longer free, it is sponsored.

The comment spread because it expressed a common complaint about the timing of the transaction. People may tolerate an awkward digital process while shopping, but a bathroom offers less flexibility when something goes wrong.

An advertisement server that stalls, a phone that loses its signal or a visitor without local payment apps can interrupt access. Attendants may be able to help at some pilot locations, but they are not always at the door. Lines move quickly only when the equipment and connection work smoothly.

The criticism also reaches beyond the length of a commercial. People object to becoming an audience for marketers when the alternative is paying for something they need immediately. That makes the experience feel different from encountering an advertisement in a place where leaving or looking away is easy.

Phone scans bring a different privacy question

The move away from face recognition removes one form of sensitive data collection. QR codes introduce another set of questions because the scan usually opens a link or a mini program hosted by a digital platform.

A mini program is a service that runs within a larger app. Even a short interaction can generate records showing the time, device type and location. Advertising platforms often measure how long a video plays and whether the user makes another request.

Operators can say that they keep no information identifying individual people, but the public has little visibility into how those records are managed. Information about retention periods, anonymization and the use of unique identifiers would help people understand what happens after a scan. Unique identifiers can allow a system to recognize a returning device or user.

China's Personal Information Protection Law sets rules around data collection, the purposes for which information is used and consent. In a restroom, someone scanning hurriedly may not read a disclosure. Users also have limited ability to check how the dispenser operator, venue and advertising network share responsibilities for storing data.

The practical concern is straightforward: a brief bathroom visit may generate a digital record that lasts longer than the person expects. Replacing a face scan with a phone scan changes the kind of information involved, while leaving users dependent on explanations from the organizations running the service.

Advertising revenue can shape the service

Advertising is part of the financing model, not simply an extra message on a screen. If commercials help pay for paper, operators and advertising partners have a financial reason to seek more views.

Smaller portions of paper or more frequent advertisement prompts could increase the number of videos watched. A service designed mainly around keeping paper available and convenient would have different priorities from one designed around maximizing advertising impressions, the industry's term for occasions when an advertisement is displayed.

Public agencies will need contract terms that reward the quality of the bathroom service as well as advertising activity. The amount of paper released, the time needed to obtain it and access to assistance all affect whether the system works for visitors.

The proposed balance is conservation with flexibility: restrict unnecessary consumption, then allow a quick payment when someone needs more. Whether that balance is comfortable for users depends on the settings of each machine and the support available nearby.

Who can be left without easy access?

People without smartphones face an immediate obstacle. Others may own a phone but keep mobile data switched off to save money, run out of battery or struggle to connect inside a building.

Children and older residents often depend on companions to complete digital tasks. Visitors with disabilities may find it difficult or slow to position a phone and scan a code. A system built around a charged device with internet access can leave these groups needing help at an inconvenient moment.

Tourists may also lack the local apps needed for payment. The paid option offers a shortcut only when someone can complete the transaction. A small fee alone does not solve the access problem for a visitor whose phone or apps cannot work with the machine.

Delays can affect other users, too. A video that buffers or a QR code that fails to load may create a queue around a single dispenser. Crowding at one point in a restroom adds another practical concern to a process intended to make facilities easier to manage.

During earlier rationing trials, managers sometimes directed visitors to staff for extra paper in emergencies. An attendant can handle unusual needs quickly and discreetly, provided staffing is reliable. Many travelers in China already carry tissues and hand sanitizer because older facilities do not always guarantee paper or soap.

Beijing's earlier experiment used face scans

The current trials follow earlier attempts to ration public toilet paper through technology. In 2017, Beijing's Temple of Heaven park installed dispensers that used face recognition to control repeat requests.

Those machines supplied about 60 centimeters of paper after a scan and blocked the same face from receiving another portion for nine minutes. By 2019, the interval at some locations had increased to ten minutes. Park officials later said staff would provide extra paper in urgent cases, acknowledging that a fixed allowance could not suit every visitor.

The development has unfolded across several stages:

• 2017: Temple of Heaven park in Beijing introduced face recognition dispensers providing about 60 centimeters of paper, with a nine minute interval before the same person could receive more.
• 2019: Some locations used an interval of ten minutes between requests.
• By October 20, 2025: Some public toilets were testing QR code dispensers that required an advertisement or a payment of 0.5 yuan for immediate paper.

The newer arrangement replaces the face scan with a phone scan and adds an advertisement before paper is released. Supporters regard that as less intrusive because it avoids collecting facial information. Critics focus on the remaining transaction, the data generated through the phone and the difficulties for people unable to use it.

Both approaches show how an effort to stop misuse can affect everyone using a public facility. Limits may conserve supplies, while rigid settings create problems for visitors whose needs exceed a standard portion or who cannot complete the required digital steps.

Why a bathroom advertisement feels different

Charging for access to public toilets is common in parts of Europe, where attendants or turnstiles collect a small entrance fee. The money helps support cleaning and operation. Payment generally happens before entry and does not depend on a phone.

Public bathrooms in the United States are usually free, with supplies covered by municipal budgets or business costs. Theft and vandalism still cause problems. Operators often respond by closing facilities at night or requiring an access code, rather than rationing paper when someone needs it.

Advertising screens have already spread to places such as petrol pumps and taxis. A person filling a vehicle can look away from the screen. An advertisement that controls whether a machine releases toilet paper creates a different relationship between the viewer and the service.

The paid bypass provides an alternative to watching, but the urgency of a bathroom visit limits a person's freedom to delay the decision. That helps explain why the Chinese trials have provoked such strong reactions despite the small charge.

Any wider use would depend on public acceptance, openness about data and agreements that balance conservation with fair access. For visitors, the immediate standard is simpler: paper needs to be available when it is needed, including when a phone, connection or payment process fails.

Key Points

• Some public toilets in China are testing QR code dispensers that release limited paper after a short advertisement.
• Advertisements sometimes last around 30 seconds. Users can pay 0.5 yuan, roughly seven US cents, to receive paper immediately.
• Officials say the machines can reduce waste, discourage theft and help cover paper and maintenance costs.
• The number of installations, expansion plans, standard paper allowance and handling of scan data remain unclear.
• Criticism centers on dignity, privacy and access for people without a working smartphone, suitable apps or internet service.
• Earlier machines at Beijing's Temple of Heaven used face scans, dispensing about 60 centimeters of paper with a nine minute interval in 2017.
• The newer system avoids facial scans but makes access dependent on a digital advertising or payment process.