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Comment by brandonmenc | Hacker News Reader

> Apparently one of the biggest sources of mistakes when humans copy keys is choosing the correct blank key to start with.

I just made some keys at the hardware store, and the machine scanned the key and told me which blank to use.

Another concern: what if they get hacked? Does everyone then have to change their locks?

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Probably not, because most house locks are really crappy, so they're easily picked. Except they're almost never picked, because it's easier to just kick the door in.

I'm really not sure getting the bitting on a bunch of house keys would be of any use to burglars.

Spot on. Last year I decided to take up lock picking as a casual hobby. After reading up on the process and practicing on some old locks I had laying around, I decided to try to pick my own front door lock. I was able to pick it in under 3 minutes...

It was an moment of epiphany for me - I realized that door locks really only provide an illusion of security. Anyone who really wants to get into your house quickly can just avoid the lock all together by kicking in the door or breaking a window.

I think it makes a big difference for your insurance pay out if robbers entered with a copied key or left traces of lock manipulation.

> Another concern: what if they get hacked? Does everyone then have to change their locks?

Presumably they don't store your address with the key. It would be like losing a hotel keycard.

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