Online Key Copy Service Raises Safety Concerns

BOSTON (CBS) – Getting a copy of a key is now as easy as taking a picture with apps and websites like "Key Me" and "Keys Duplicated." These platforms allow anyone to snap a photo of a key and order a copy in the mail for just a few dollars, but this could make it easier than ever for thieves to break into any home straight through the front door.

WBZ put "Key Me" to the test, scanning one house key and one office key stamped "duplication prohibited." A few days later two perfect copies arrived in the mail.

There have been several recent home break-ins in Cambridge, so residents don't like the idea of the ability to copy keys online without regulation. "Key Me" insists their company does have regulation.

"It should be harder," one woman told WBZ-TV.

"It's scary that there is zero regulation," another woman said.

"For someone with malicious intentions, we are the most horrible way for that person to copy their key because we're the only platform that can hold people accountable for the keys that they duplicate," said Greg Marsh, the company's CEO.

Marsh then told WBZ that in order to duplicate a key, customers need an email address and a credit card. He compares this system to that of a locksmith, where customers can pay cash, leaving zero record behind.

WBZ Security Analyst Ed Davis finds these options "very troubling."

"It makes it quite easy. There's no oversight of it. Anybody can have it done and it's a huge security problem," Davis said. "You should keep your keys in your pocket so that no one else can get their hands on them. If you leave your keys out and someone snaps a picture of them, you've got a problem."

Also, the "duplication prohibited" stamp turns out to simply be a request; it's not legally binding. WBZ was able to get copies made just as easily at the hardware store.

MORE LOCAL NEWS FROM CBS BOSTON