Implementation guide, Platform

How to share a test report securely and let anyone verify it

Author: PureField
Published: 2 November 2026
Updated: 2 November 2026

Sharing a test report securely means opening only the issued, signed report to the person you chose, with a password and expiry where needed. The recipient checks on the laboratory's verification page that it is genuine and current. If the report is amended or withdrawn, the link and the verification page say so, and a forwarded copy can still be checked.

Who shares a test report, and when?

The question comes up when someone without a login to the laboratory's portal needs to see a report. Typical cases:

A food producer wants the analysis report for its product behind a QR code on the package, so that a consumer who scans it sees the report.
Your customer forwards the report to its own customer or supplier.
An auditor or a regulator wants to see the original of a report submitted to them.
A report goes into a tender file and is opened months later.

Each case raises two questions: who will see the report and for how long, and how will the recipient know that the file in hand is the report the laboratory issued?

What does ISO/IEC 17025 require when a report is shared?

ISO/IEC 17025 leaves the way of sharing to the laboratory; it requires the report to stay authorized, complete and confidential. The clauses that bear on sharing:

Clause	Requirement	What it means for sharing
§7.8.1.1	Results are reviewed and authorized before release	The shared report is an issued report; drafts stay in the laboratory
§7.8.1.2	Every issued report is retained as a technical record	The shared file is the same as the report the laboratory keeps
§7.8.2.1 d, o	The report is uniquely identified, its end is clear, and the person authorizing it is named	The recipient sees that the report is complete and who authorized it
Note to §7.8.2.1	A statement that the report may not be reproduced except in full without the laboratory's approval helps keep parts from being taken out of context	The report is shared as one piece
§4.2.1	Information is confidential; the laboratory tells the customer in advance what it intends to place in the public domain	A public QR code is a decision made together with the customer
§7.8.8	Changes are made in a further document; the changed information and, where appropriate, the reason are stated, and a new report refers to the one it replaces	A recipient needs a way to learn whether the report in hand has been replaced
§7.10.1 e	In nonconforming work the customer is notified and work recalled where necessary	A withdrawn report needs to show as invalid wherever it was shared
§7.11.3 a, b	The laboratory information management system is protected from unauthorized access, tampering and loss	Share links and the verification page are part of that protection

A report travels as an e-mail attachment, through a customer portal, as a time-limited link, as a QR code on a package or as a printed copy; the options differ in what the laboratory still controls once the report has left.

Route	Suits	What the laboratory still controls after sending	How the recipient verifies
E-mail attachment (PDF)	One known recipient	The file is with the recipient; the laboratory can change only the report's status	With the verification code and address on the report
Customer portal	A customer with an account	The account governs access; a withdrawal shows in the portal	Through the status in the portal and the verification page
Time-limited, password-protected link	A known recipient without an account	The link expires or is revoked; openings are logged	From the page the link opens
QR code on a package	Anyone who picks up the product	The link opens the current revision of the report number	From the page the QR code opens
Printed copy	Official submissions, files	The copy is beyond tracking	With the verification code and address on the report

Whichever route you choose, every file you send is a copy. Instead of recalling copies, you give everyone a place to check whether a copy is still valid: the verification page.

How does a report verification page work?

A verification page tells anyone whether the report in their hands is one the laboratory issued, and whether it is valid today. In general:

When the report is issued, its content is sealed and a digest (hash) is computed from it; a short form of the digest is printed on the report as its verification code.
The report carries a verification address and a QR code; the QR code opens the page with the report's details filled in.
The page shows the report's status: valid, amended or withdrawn.
The recipient uploads the PDF they hold and compares it with the file the laboratory issued; a single changed byte shows the file was altered.

Because the verification page is public, it should show only the status, the laboratory, the issue time and the sample description. The results stay in the report itself, with the person you gave it to; that boundary is what protects customer information (§4.2).

When should you use a password and an expiry?

Narrow the sharing to whoever will see the report; when a report contains personal data, use a password and an expiry together. Example choices:

Case	Validity	Password
QR code on a package, open to consumers	No expiry, or 1 year	None; the report holds no personal data
Customer forwarding to its own customer	30 or 90 days	Yes
Auditor or regulator	7 or 30 days	Yes
Report naming a patient or an employee	1 or 7 days	Yes
Tender file	30 or 90 days, by the tender timetable	Depending on who will open the file

Send the password by a different route from the link: if the link goes by e-mail, give the password by phone or in a separate e-mail. Whoever receives the link can pass it on; an expiry limits that risk over time, and revoking the link closes it at once.

What happens when a report is amended or withdrawn?

An issued report stays exactly as issued; §7.8.8 asks for the correction in a further document that states the changed information and, where appropriate, the reason, with the new report referring to the one it replaces. If the report is too wrong to correct, it is withdrawn under the nonconforming work process (§7.10) and the customer is notified where necessary.

The real work is in the copies already out there: the first report may have gone by e-mail, onto a package or into a tender file. So:

Let the QR code and the share link open the current revision of the report number, rather than one fixed file, and say that an amendment exists.
Let the verification page show the old revision as "amended" and a withdrawn report as "withdrawn".
Let the link to a withdrawn report open a page saying the report is no longer valid, in place of the report.
Notify the customer; if they know who they passed the report to, they should tell them too.

How do you handle uncontrolled copies?

An uncontrolled copy is any copy the laboratory can no longer follow after sending: a forwarded attachment, a printed page, a PDF added to another file. Its validity is read from the verification page, not from the file itself.

Put the report number and page number on every page (for example 2 / 5), so that a loose page shows which report it belongs to (§7.8.2.1 d).
Include the statement that the report may not be reproduced except in full, and the verification address.
Ask recipients to verify a report before using it, especially when the report is old.
On your side, label every link with who it was given to, and revoke links whose job is done.

What does KVKK mean for a report that contains personal data?

If a report names a patient or an employee, or holds health information about a person, what you are sharing is personal data, and you narrow the sharing accordingly.

Health data is a special category of personal data (KVKK Article 6); share such reports through a password-protected, short-lived link.
The data controller takes the technical and organisational measures needed to prevent unlawful access to personal data (Article 12). Sending the password on a separate channel, setting an expiry and revoking finished links are examples of such measures.
Attach only reports free of personal data to public links such as a package QR code.
Word a withdrawal reason so that it contains no personal data and no other customer's name; the customer may be shown the reason.

In PureField LIMS you open an issued, e-signed report to people without an account through Paylaşım bağlantısı (QR kod), the share link with its QR code; the recipient checks the report on the Rapor doğrulama (report verification) page.

Step	In PureField LIMS
Creating a link	On the report page, Paylaşım bağlantıları (QR kod) → Yeni bağlantı (new link). A label says who the link is for and why, for example "Package QR, batch 2026/41"; only the laboratory sees it
Expiry and password	Validity of no expiry, 1 day, 7 days, 30 days, 90 days or 1 year; a link is valid for at least one hour. The password is optional and at least 8 characters long; after the right password the report opens without asking again for 30 minutes
QR code	The QR code and the link appear only in the creation window; the QR code downloads as SVG for printing on a package, a label or a document. The laboratory keeps only a digest of the link; a lost link is revoked and a new one created
What the recipient sees	The laboratory, the report number, who e-signed it and when, the verification code, a link to verify the report and a button to download the PDF. The PDF is the same file the laboratory downloads
Amendment and withdrawal	The link opens the current revision of the report number and says if the report was amended after the link was created. For a withdrawn report the link shows that the report is no longer valid and that the laboratory withdrew it, in place of the report
Access log	Every opening, PDF download and wrong password attempt is written with its time, IP address and browser to the link's access log; the list shows how many times the link was opened and when it was last opened. Creating a link and revoking it with a reason are written to the audit trail
Lockout and revocation	Five wrong passwords within 15 minutes lock the link for 15 minutes. Revoking takes a reason of at least 10 characters and is final; the link and QR code stop working at once
Fixed link	Only the issued current revision can be shared. Label, expiry and password are fixed when the link is created; to change them, revoke the link and create a new one

The Rapor doğrulama page needs no sign-in. The QR code opens it with the details filled in; for manual verification you enter the laboratory code, report number, revision and the 16-character verification code. The verification code is the first 16 characters of the SHA-256 digest of the content sealed at issue. The page shows the report's status (valid, amended, withdrawn, or under review by the laboratory when an analysis was invalidated after issue), the laboratory, the issue time and the sample description. The recipient compares the PDF they hold on the same page: the file is compared byte for byte with the issued report, can be up to 15 MB and is not stored on the server.

An amended report opens by naming the report it replaces and the reason for the amendment. Only the laboratory manager withdraws a report, with a reason and an e-signature; a withdrawn report shows as withdrawn on the verification page, appears in the customer portal with its date and reason, and share links show that it is no longer valid in place of opening it.

Evidence

ISO/IEC 17025 (2017 edition): Confidentiality §4.2.1, review and authorization of results and retention of reports §7.8.1, report content and the note on partial reproduction §7.8.2.1, amendments to reports §7.8.8, notifying the customer and recalling work in nonconforming work §7.10.1, protection of the laboratory information management system §7.11.3. Source: iso.org
Law No. 6698 on the Protection of Personal Data (KVKK): Health data as a special category of personal data (Article 6) and data security obligations (Article 12). Source: kvkk.gov.tr

To see the share link and the verification page on a sample report, request a PureField LIMS account.

Frequently asked questions

Does the verification page show the results in the report?

The verification page shows the report's status, the laboratory, the issue time and the sample description; the results stay in the report itself. Because the page is public, that boundary protects customer information (§4.2). To give someone the results, open the report to them with a share link.

Can a share link's expiry be extended?

A link's label, expiry and password are fixed when it is created. If you need a new expiry, revoke the link with a reason and create a new one. If the link was printed on a package, the new link's QR code is printed again.

What does the QR code show after a report is amended?

The same QR code opens the current revision of the report number, and the page says the report was amended after the link was created and that the current revision is shown. A QR code printed on a package therefore keeps pointing to the right report after an amendment.

How can I tell that the PDF I hold has not been altered?

Verify the report on the verification page, then compare your PDF on the same page. PureField LIMS compares the file byte for byte with the report the laboratory issued and reports even a single changed byte. The file can be up to 15 MB and is not stored on the server.

From which networks does a share link open?

A share link opens from anywhere that can reach the PureField LIMS installation. For PureField LIMS installed on the laboratory's own server (on-prem), that means the networks that can reach that server.