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Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

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Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#61

Post by abcd_f »

kleiba wrote: post #33
Moto7451 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never had a problem having "DO NOT COPY" keys copied. When I was the manager of a store I had to get multiple copies of the door keys and case keys at various times working there. OSH, Home Depot, etc didn't ask me any questions, just made my copies and sent me on my way.

Interesting. I once tried to get a copy of a key to a security lock (a fact I didn't know) in Germany. The guy in this tiny little shop (which I'm sure would otherwise be happy for every customer) had one look at the key, then handed it back to me straight away. He wouldn't do it. Maybe I should have just gone to a couple of other shops?

Or he couldn't do it. Some keys require specialized fabrication hardware, which can get really expensive.

Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#62

Post by namdnay »

NuZZ wrote: post #50
eridius wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "Security" page addresses this very concern: > Keyjacking is not allowed > Worried someone's going surreptitiously copy your key with our service? Not to worry. We don't accept surreptitious or flyby pictures of keys. The key must be held in the person's hand, with their fingers visible. In any case, we require a credit card to ship the key, so in case of fraud, identity can be traced back. We respond swiftly to…

The victim wouldn't even know the key was cut by this service. So the friend/plumber/handyman or whoever could just take the picture, get the key cut and then raid the place without anyone knowing. Seems legit.

Indeed. In Germany for example, employees of this company could be tried as accomplices to the crime if it was found that they had duplicated a house key without asking for proof of residence.

Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#63

Post by namdnay »

kleiba wrote: post #33
Moto7451 wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never had a problem having "DO NOT COPY" keys copied. When I was the manager of a store I had to get multiple copies of the door keys and case keys at various times working there. OSH, Home Depot, etc didn't ask me any questions, just made my copies and sent me on my way.

Interesting. I once tried to get a copy of a key to a security lock (a fact I didn't know) in Germany. The guy in this tiny little shop (which I'm sure would otherwise be happy for every customer) had one look at the key, then handed it back to me straight away. He wouldn't do it. Maybe I should have just gone to a couple of other shops?

Did you have proof of (home I suppose) ownership with you? If not he didn't do it because it would have been against the law.

Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#64

Post by VLM »

downandout wrote: post #26

Forgive me if it's already being done, but I would love to see this capability at my local Home Depot or maybe in an app for a locksmith service. Store pics of my keys on a secure server at the provider, and if I ever lose a key, I hit a button and it's made for me. Could be a whole new revenue stream for them.

Just store the key code and a locksmith can cut to code.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_code

Lets say you have a classic 60s/70s-ish minicomputer collection and you need a key for the rack mount door. Assuming no one swapped it out, every PDP-8 ever shipped was locked with a "ACE XX2247 tubular key". And no I'm not making this up.

After more than a decade of starting my car, my key physically began to wear out and I had to have another key cut to code, which the stealership had on file for me. The wear on the key was pretty surprising. It was expensive, but because I was expecting to have to replace the much more expensive locking mechanism I was relieved to only be out $15 or whatever it was for a dealer made key.

Also anyone who's ever replaced a lockset at home, probably noticed that the keycode is usually written on the outside packaging, so you can buy 3 locks where any key works in any lock, without having to cut any extra keys or special order.

I have three keypad locks on my three house doors, so I don't use keys at home, and the stereotypical NFC card at work, so I only use keys in my cars ignition. This is likely the biggest future problem for this business.

Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#66

Post by VLM »

NuZZ wrote: post #50
eridius wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "Security" page addresses this very concern: > Keyjacking is not allowed > Worried someone's going surreptitiously copy your key with our service? Not to worry. We don't accept surreptitious or flyby pictures of keys. The key must be held in the person's hand, with their fingers visible. In any case, we require a credit card to ship the key, so in case of fraud, identity can be traced back. We respond swiftly to…

The victim wouldn't even know the key was cut by this service. So the friend/plumber/handyman or whoever could just take the picture, get the key cut and then raid the place without anyone knowing. Seems legit.

This sounds extremely complicated compared to the somewhat more realistic "throw the jewelry in the toolbox and walk out" or the "unlock a window" approach. The most realistic approach is to lie to the customer... "well, we need to special order a left handed crescent wrench and some frequency grease and also do some mold abatement". This is before we get started with outright insurance fraud and the like.

It could happen, but it sounds a lot more like a hollywood movie plot security threat than a real security threat.

Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#67

Post by VLM »

downandout wrote: post #32
wavesounds wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Or someone steals your phone and then everything else you own... Edit: I'm assuming this is idea was relating to an online business. You could always give a copy of your keys to your friends if your willing to drive/walk somewhere

Have them require ID to pick up the key. Or have the app require a picture of the person(s) authorized to pick up keys and store it along with the key photos on the server. Everyone is talking about the security issues, but these are far from insurmountable problems.

"Have them require ID to pick up the key."

This is also known as registered mail. The killer problem is the post office is 10x as inconvenient as just going across the street to the hardware store.

Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#68

Post by VLM »

MichaelApproved wrote: post #41
wavesounds wrote: post #30

This is a pretty dangerous website, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. A unscrupulous car mechanic could save up a bunch of pictures of keys then sell them online anonymously to random people with fake credit cards. You wouldn't even need the peoples address just google map the neighborhood and look for their cars. It'd be a lot harder to sneak off from work to the hardware store then just tak…

You're over thinking this. Anyone with access to the car can open the glove box and look at the address on the registration. They could take a picture of the registration in no time.

1) If you have a picture of the key for the bike rack on my car, you don't need to do photometric analysis of the key, all you need to do is read "N027" handily stamped onto the key, and "Thule" silk screened onto the bike rack.

2) Geocoded pix in the exif data? So a pix of the bike rack key taken while I'm standing in my driveway is easily accurate enough to find my driveway.

Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#69

Post by LogicX »

AlexMuir wrote: post #46

This exact concept was done very well by a HNer two years ago: http://dittokey.com/ https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2391571 - Show HN: DittoKey - Door keys copied from a photo app. For my money it's a cool idea, but an overtechnical and imperfect solution to a rare and cheap problem. Keys are cut in minutes, cheaply, with professional guidance at tens of thousands of places around the world.

iPhone app no longer in the store? Is this one dead?

Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#70

Post by VLM »

kmfrk wrote: post #52

Honest question, is it possible we are approaching a future where metal keys will be rendered obsolete by 3D printers and low-light phone cameras? Maybe Lockitron is much more than just a convenience. Just a thought.

Be careful when defining obsolete.

To protect one site they're already obsolete except for some pretty exotic high end locks.

Metal keys will never be obsolete from a police perspective because here's "burglary tools" to bust people, and patterns to discern, and a piece of metal evidence with fingerprints, and ordering history, and shipping history... They may be useless for protecting one site, but they're a great tool for busting a serial burglar who's done it a dozen times.

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