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Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

shloosl.com

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Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#71

Post by jtheory »

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.

That's the issue. Who has the problem this is solving?

Last week I needed a new copy of my house keys. The next day I was going out to lunch and noticed there was a bicycle shop that copied keys down the street. I said "I'll meet you inside", got the copies made in about 2 minutes, and made it to the restaurant before the waiter had even come by to take the order.

If I were a shut-in, I suppose this could be easier, but if I were a shut-in I wouldn't need more copies of my keys.

Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#72

Post by tomchuk »

xlevus wrote: post #57

Does this really solve a problem? The only time I've needed to get keys cut was when I've either lost a key or moved house and needed a copy immediately. Why would I risk my security and have to wait for the mailman? I can get a key cut at one of 10 shops near my house, door to door in 15 minutes. And in the case of a lost key, I'd replace the barrel of the lock too.

Nail on the head. I can only remember one or two occasions where I've needed to copy a key and waiting a couple days for delivery would have been practical.

That said, I had a clever idea on my way to work this morning.

They've already got automated kiosks[1] all over the place, why not network those, give customers a login and let them save their keys to a centralized location. You'd then be able to get a copy of any of your keys without having the original present. You could even share keys with another account - visiting friend, whatever, so they can get a copy cut in their hometown. No need to save any info besides login credentials and keys (ie. nothing that could allow someone to trace a key back to a lock via a billing address).

[1] http://www.minutekey.com/

Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#73

Post by AlexMuir »

LogicX wrote: post #69
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?

Founder went on to found CircuitHub (YC backed)

Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#75

Post by drharris »

choult wrote: post #56
philip1209 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In general I agree for the sake of security, but in all fairness, the types of locks for which they are duplicating keys are pickable in under 60 seconds. It is essentially a waste of time to go through making a duplicate key - it is quite a sobering moment for me when I realized how easily I could defeat the locks on my house. High security locks whose keys need protection, such as BEST Locks, are probably outside t…

There is a vast difference in the number of people who can pick locks and the number of people with cameras.

Not when you correct it by the subset of people who would consider breaking into your house. Lockpicking and bumping are very easy, even for the amateur criminal.

Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#76

Post by rahimiali »

pseudonym wrote: post #25

I'm actually more worried about this[1]. I don't want my key and associated information stored with bank-grade cryptography, I want it deleted after it's cut and sent out. It's easy enough to change a password if you get hacked, it's slightly more difficult to change a credit or debit card but it's more hassle in "changing all the places it's used" than anything else. But changing locks is a huge pain, and not always…

hi. i wrote the code that runs shloosl. this is a good point. i'm going to stew over this for a few days. if you're willing to chat, drop me a note at ali@shloosl.com?

Re: Duplicate your House Keys with your Phone

#77

Post by fatbat »

eridius wrote: post #43
fatbat wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My immediate thoughts as well. Perhaps a different scenario. eg- Anyone can easily just take their friends key, snap a pic and have creep access to their house/car/locker/safe/etc. I am not sure if this kind of easy service is a good one to have around. Do not forget real-world security too!

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…

My bad, I missed that part. But I still think those conditions are far from sufficient. A sharp picture and a credit card?! Really? How would anyone even resolve that this service was the accessory to the crime?

I like the slowness and hassle of duplicating keys because I know that someone would have to swipe my keys to do that. Not just snap a clear picture.

The future is probably with smarter locks, not enhancing what is broken.

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