"That is frightening!" How closely are you watching your keys? KeyMe app being called a "game changer"

BROWN DEER/WHITEFISH BAY (WITI) — You work hard for what you have and, most likely, you do everything you can to protect your family and your home, but how closely are you watching your keys?

When you need to get a key made, it's likely you turn to a locksmith like Pop-A-Lock. Now, there's a new option — an iPhone app called KeyMe. The owner of Milwaukee Pop-A-Lock, David Cartwright, calls it a game changer.

"People can take a picture of their key and send it off to the internet to have a copy made of that key," Cartwright said.

So, how easy is it -- and more importantly, is it too easy? Could this type of technology simply give away your keys to crooks?

Contact 6's Katrina Cravy wanted to find out.

With an iPhone and a sheet of paper in hand, Cravy hit the halls of FOX6 News -- looking for someone who may have left their keys out.

First, Cravy found that News Operations Manager, Brian Graham, left his keys out on his desk while he was in a meeting.

After scanning them, the app rejected the key for not passing its scanning protocols.

Cravy moved on -- finding another set of keys -- these ones in the office of the FOX6 News Director John LaPorte.

Initially, Cravy tried to scan the key to John's car, but that scan failed.

An e-mail from KeyMe reveals that the company, ". . .can do about 85% of the keys out there and are working hard to add new ones."

Contact 6's Katrina Cravy ordering what she thinks is the house key of her boss.

Cravy went back to John's office and copied what she thought was a house key.

That key scan was successful. The website said the key would ship in two to five days.

KeyMe's Vice President of Marketing, Michael Harbolt, says the app not only makes life easier, but it's safe.

"KeyMe is the most convenient and secure way to copy keys and the riskiest and most difficult way for thieves to steal keys," Harbolt said.

Once you copy your keys, the information is saved in a cloud and only your email address is linked to the key.

Contact 6 confirmed this after it didn't receive the first key and had to order a new one. In that process, Contact 6 had to give company information again, including the address the key needed to be sent to.

KeyMe's promotional video shows Contact 6 could have shared the information with a locksmith to get a copy, but Cravy was trying to act like a crook and break into her boss' house.

When Contact 6 asked Harbolt about co-workers stealing keys, he wasn't surprised.

"We get the co-worker question quite a bit and, frankly, it suggests a lack of trust of co-workers," Harbolt said.

He's right.

Who would want to risk their job and livelihood to mess with a co-worker? Well, in this case, Cravy would.

Katrina entering the FOX6 News Director's home after ordering a key copy through KeyMe

The copy of the New Director's key arrived. After letting his wife, Sally, in on what she was doing — Cravy tested the key.

It worked.

"It works! We got in!" Cravy laughed.

"That is frightening!" Sally said.

Cravy could only get John on the phone to reveal what she'd done and he wasn't amused.

"I guess this means I'm changing the locks on my house,"John said.

Harbolt says the app hasn't been linked to a crime.

"I just want to stress we have made...hundreds of thousands of copies of keys. We have never had one reported instance of our keys being used in crime," Harbolt said.

KeyMe officials say it's time to start treating your keys like an ATM card or credit card and Pop-A-Lock officials agree.

"Keep physical control of your keys. Make sure you know they're in your physical possession at all times," Cartwright said.

Whether using a local locksmith or an app like KeyMe, it's important to always check out the company.  You can look up a locksmith at The Better Business Bureau or Associated Locksmiths of America.