The purpose of a mysterious QR code projected in a number of locations around Trinity College's campus has been revealed.

The code, which led to a web page asking for personal details, was an elaborate lesson in keeping your personal data private.

Scanned over 100 times, the code led to questions about the user's gender, email address, birthday, occupation and credit card details.

90 per cent of people were happy to give their name and gender, with 27 per cent even volunteering their credit card number.

Luckily, these details were used only to show how willingly we give away information about ourselves.

The stunt marked yesterday's ninth Data Protection Day, which aims to inform the public about what information is being collected about them and what rights to privacy they hold.

Trinity College underlined the moral of the QR code in a statement:

"While this exercise was for demonstrative purposes only with a view to raising awareness regarding placing personal data online, it could easily have had a more sinister agenda. The moral of the story - Think before you click!”

Hat-tip to Silicon Republic.