

    Of course, nothing prevents you from buying a new lock with cash
and installing it yourself. Even modifying the core to match some
arbitrary key is not difficult to do at home. I once knew someone who
had fixed his locks in this way - his house, office and cars all took
the same key (which he took GOOD care of :-)



    Very bad (yours, that is). Have you ever had a safety deposit box?
They work on a two-key system. The bank clerk has one, and you have
the other (they are different keys). The bank does NOT keep a copy of
your key. If you lose it, they have to drill out the lock, and replace
the door. This is a time consuming and expensive process (which they
will be happy to charge to your account :-).

     This process is exactly analogous to having a private key which
is NOT in a escrow system, and the state having to crack your cipher
to get the data.

     Please do not use false analogies.