Embodiments described herein combine both glyph technologies and cryptography technologies by encrypting data with a private key of an entity tasked with issuing controlled documents, and then converting the resulting encryption as a visual glyph, such as a QR code. This permits validation of the printed document by scanning the QR code using a smartphone and decrypting using the issuing entity's public key. In some embodiments, a purpose-built software application executed by the smartphone may automatically recognize QR codes on a document presented for review and then automatically decrypt the QR code using the public key of the issuing entity. A user performing the validation may then compare the document's content with the decrypted data on the smartphone.