IFTTT Foursquare check in opens a lock

I was just browsing thru the different IFTTT channels and I saw a very interesting recipe at the foursquare/ST combo.

Just thinking out loud here… how safe is it? if anyone checks in with the same hashtag… will it open the door?

Logic tells me that it should only do it IF the hashtag comes from a known linked Foursquare account… am I right?

This recipe monitors your foursquare feed, so it wouldn’t work for anyone else – unless someone compromises your account and uses that to login in as you and unlock your door.

I don’t trust the technology enough to do door unlocks yet. I have ifttt turn on / off lights and a few other bits based on geofences, but even that is sometimes delayed – some of the time it’s ifttt processing delays and others it’s ST itself. I wouldn’t want some delayed processing unlocking my door in the middle of the night or when I’m not home, so I shy away from that.

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I have IFTTT connected with Foursquare and Smartthings but, I don’t understand how to use it.
It says to checkin with hashtag #unlock but, I don’t see anywhere how to do that. I can’t find where to “checkin” nor to enter the hashtag. Can someone please explain?

It’s not the foursquare checkin that triggers the unlock–it’s a check in from your four square account to your foursquare channel on your IFTTT account that’s the trigger.

Someone else using the same hashtag won’t trigger anything on your IFTTT account because they didn’t use your foursquare account.

It’s just like any other IFTTT recipe. You’re authorizing two separate accounts to link to your IFTTT account, one for the if and one for the that. Only activity on those specific accounts will be used by that recipe.

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