How would you feel if I told you that you could take two pictures of a house key with your phone, send them off and receive an exact copy in the mail a few days later? If you're anything like me then it makes you a bit uncomfortable. Security concerns aside, Shloosl is making it happen. The company is so good at duplicating keys this way that it even nailed LifeHacker writer Adam Dachis' key when nobody else could. For a measly five dollars the key is replicated and sent to whomever you choose.
I can certainly see how this could be useful. Say you're out of the country and forgot to leave keys for whoever needs to take care of your place. You snap some shots and ship a spare off. Awesome.
Here's what worries me though. What if you leave your keys unattended and someone uses the same service to order a copy for themselves. The company claims they have never had an issue of fraud. While that may be true today I think we can all agree that it's only a matter of time. Especially when the "security measures" the company is implementing seem to be as basic as making sure a hand is present in the photos and linking a credit card to the order. If that makes you feel safe then more power to you but, I live in a world where identity thieves steal information like that regularly.
At least if your keys actually get stolen you have a reason to replace your locks. Missing keys are a big red flag. There's no way to know if someone has digitally replicated yours until it's too late.
Via LifeHacker
I saw a tutorial on this few years ago. You just need to measure the key (using a piece of paper), then take a picture of it. After that draw a path around the key in Photoshop, print it out in proper size, and you have a blueprint. You can easily make the key using a dremel.
Not if it's the new kind of car keys that are flat on the outside and has a groove on the side. (VW for example...)
Or you're a GENIUS with a dremel!
And the you got to find the right blank and there are certified locks you need the certificate to order them and there are thousands of different key-blanks good luck with your dremel i think learning to lock pick is faster
Common house key blanks such as Kwikset, Schlage etc. can be purchased by anyone,
Not sure where you get the idea that you need any certificate to buy the blamks, I have been doing lock work for over 25 years and for $9 anyone can buy a box of 50 key blanks.
I call BS on this concerned mother
The funny thing is anyone that uses this service just gave a copy of the key and your mailing address (after all they need that when they ship the keys to you) to the owners of this site. Kind of scary to think especially if you don't know the reputation of the people running it. Hopefully the owners, Ali, Pascal and Sam are good honest guys.
Well this is the 21st century... time to make keys that cant be replicated from photographs.
Handy tool for rapists and other psychopaths too...