Lockwiki:About

=About Lockwiki=

Lockwiki is a free reference for information on locks, safes, and related physical or digital security components. Lockwiki is free to view and free to edit. Our goal is to provide the most complete coverage of these subjects on the Internet while at the same time providing a place where free material can be obtained and re-used by the locksport, locksmith, and physical security communities.

For the most part, the text of Lockwiki is completely free to re-use, though certain restrictions apply. Content on Lockwiki is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike 3.0 license. Images uploaded may have their own copyright licenses which are not necessarily free. See Lockwiki:Copyrights for more information.

Lockwiki is made possible by many volunteers who donate their time and knowledge to contribute to the site. Would you like to help, too? You can help contribute in more ways that you think!

Contact Us
Please use either Lockwiki_talk:Administrators or User_talk:Datagram or if you need administrative help with using or editing the site. Remember to look at Category:Lockwiki Policies and Help:Contents if you need general help.

If you prefer a private discussion, information on supporting the site, or any other non-wiki questions, please email [mailto:lockwiki@gmail.com lockwiki@gmail.com].

What Lockwiki is

 * A resource for security professionals
 * Quickly finding information when in need is troublesome. Resources are scattered throughout the Internet, often in the form of message boards or e-mail lists that are difficult to search. This site aims to provide a centralized resource for security professionals to obtain accurate information about a wide variety of locking technologies.


 * A resource for beginners
 * Starting out in this field is complex because of the various technologies available. This site aims to provide a centralized resource for the development and study of budding security professionals.


 * An unbiased, full-disclosure website.
 * As a consumer it is unclear what lock technologies and brands actually provide security. All manufacturers represent their products as "high-security," but few stand up to professional attacks. This site includes unbiased information involving the security measures offered by various products and their effectiveness in the real world.

What Lockwiki is not

 * Lockwiki is not illegal
 * Lockpicking and safecracking are entirely legal under the right conditions. Please visit the Legal Issues section for more information.


 * Lockwiki is not a training ground for burglary, fraud, or espionage
 * Covert entry of any locking component takes skill and training. If you are looking for easy methods of entry for illegal purposes, you will not find them here. Many of the techniques discussed will take years of training and experience before they can be used effectively. Stick to crowbars.


 * Lockwiki is not a vehicle for advertising
 * This site is not a vehicle for promotion or advertising of commercial products or services. While we have minimal advertising to help with hosting costs, we do not allow the advertising of products or services on any Lockwiki pages, including personal and talk pages. Your personal information used to register with this site will not be distributed to anyone.


 * Lockwiki is not a forum or chatroom
 * Please do not abuse this site. Personal pages and talk pages should be used only when necessary. if you are looking for a forum to actively get help with learning, please visit Lockpicking101 instead.

Lockwiki History
Lockwiki was first created by Raccoon in 2004, however the server it was hosted on crashed and no backup was available. In 2008, Raccoon transferred control of the domain to datagram and the site was reborn (with backups on a regular basis!).


 * November 2008 - June 2009: LockWiki kindly hosted by Legion303.
 * June 2009: LockWiki gets its own dedicated system.