SAN ANTONIO – Making a copy of a key can now be done in a flash on your smartphone, rather than waiting for a locksmith or running to a hardware store.
Websites like Keys Duplicated and apps such as KeyMe will mail you a copy of your key after you upload a photo of the key you need.
But could that allow someone else to unlock your doors?
"Regardless of whether we cut keys from pictures, locksmiths have been able to do it for a long time," said Jordan Meyer, co-founder and CEO of Keys Duplicated. "Locksmiths have actually been able to take a fax of your key. Say if you lost your key and you had a Xerox of it, you could take it to a locksmith and get a key right there."
Meyer says the convenience of key copying online is not creating any new risk and safeguards exist to keep your keys from being copied by just anyone.
Both KeyMe and Keys Duplicated require you to upload a picture of the front of a key and a separate picture of the back.
KeyMe requires you take a picture of the photo from a specific angle and on a blank background, like a white piece of paper.
"A fly-by picture from across the room really absolutely will not work," said Greg Marsh, CEO of KeyMe. "You have to have the key on a flat blank surface. You have to take it from four inches away, so you have to have full possession of the key to be able to scan it."
KeyMe charges $5 for a key copy and will have it in your mailbox within three to five days. The company also offers kiosks which you can visit at 7-Eleven, Rite Aid and Bed Bath & Beyond to get a copy in your hand instantly for $19.99, although those kiosks are not available in San Antonio.
"We strictly don't store any personal information like your address or your credit card which could ever link the key information we have with a lock," said Marsh.
Marsh's company allows you to store multiple images of keys on a virtual key ring store in the app so you can make copies or delete select images at any time.
Keys Duplicated charges $6 for the first copy of a key and $4 for additional copies.
Even with the safeguards in place on these kinds of apps and sites, cameras remain just about everywhere.
That's why Meyer suggests you take your own precautions to protect your keys.
He recommends you never give all of your keys to a valet or parking attendant, don't leave your keys in plain sight in public- on a restaurant table, for instance- and don't post photos of your keys on social media.
"The entire key industry is not as secure as I think people think. So what we tell people to do is to look into higher security locks- something like a medical lock, a multi lock- something that we don't make copies of. That's much harder for people to break into via lock-picking," Meyer said.
He adds that you don't ship a key to the place it belongs.
For instance, have a copy of your house key delivered to your workplace.
"Most people actually like have a digital backup of their key, just like they have digital backups of passwords and everything else," said Meyer.