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Comment by toomuchtodo | Hacker News Reader

> I'm not sure how much those Proxcards that every business in the world uses costs, but they sure are time tested and convenient. Probably expensive though.

I installed a proximity card system a few jobs ago, and each IP enabled reader from HID (http://www.hidglobal.com/products/readers/iclass/rw400) was about $550 for both the external RFID interface and then the internal in-wall control unit (that used POE Ethernet to connect to the network). The cost per card is fairly trivial.

> Don't put this on your rental property either until you consult your local laws regarding requirements for doors and locks for rentals to see if this meets the requirements.

There are no code issues with this as long as if power fails, internal occupants can still exit the building (fire code).

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>There are no code issues with this

How do you know? Landlord tenant laws are incredibly local (you can't possibly know all of them for all locales in the world) and can be very specific and probably haven't gotten caught up to new technology. My town (just the town!) has a 30+ page document on what a landlord has to provide a tenant written in very VERY specific terms. Thats not even considering state laws. And federal.

Because a proximity card is no different than a physical key, and any door that uses a proximity card is going to use an electric strike plate which is already in use to allow tenants to buzz guests in remotely.

I admit there may be some batshit insane locale that prohibits RFID access control, but its not a concern for almost everyone else.

Disclaimer: I have been a landlord previously, in several Illinois cities.

Holy crap, yes, I agree, proxcards are the same as physical keys and are no more or less secure or insecure. Everything its benefits and weakness. However, its worth taking 5 minutes to consult your laws to see if what you're doing is legal even if it "should" be. Laws can be (and are all the time) written by people who don't understand the issues at hand. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and all that. You don't want to (potentially) have issues down the line that are very very easily preventable.

I deal with extremely detailed regulations and policy on a regular basis (I work in a very regulated field) and we MUST do things that are very specific all the time. We need to follow the letter of the law (not just the intention). Looking up "hey, can I do this?" is part of my job, so I'm ALWAYS thinking that way. Policy is usually one step back from new technology. You may have laws and regulation that details specific technologies that may be used in different applications.

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