More than a year after adding end-to-end encryption options to its hard-wired and plug-in devices, Ring now offers end-to-end encryption for its battery-powered video doorbells and security cameras.
End-to-end encryption enables users of the company’s video cameras to lock their footage so that it can only be accessed on their registered iOS or Android devices. It also makes it easier for users to save recorded videos when they sell or dispose of their Ring devices. With end-to-end encryption enabled, no one but the owner of the camera can access the recorded footage. Even if law enforcement asked Ring or its parent company, Amazon, for the video, they could not provide it. Only a registered mobile device can unlock the video.
By default, Ring encrypts video and audio recordings when they are uploaded to the cloud and stored on Ring’s servers. End-to-end encryption increases the level of security by allowing only device owners to access and control their footage with a designated device and a password that only they have.
When Ring first previews video end-to-end encryption in January 2021, the Ring Pro 2 and Ring Elite are the only products available for video doorbells, leaving its most popular battery-powered devices such as the Ring 4, and Ring Video doorbell out of the privacy protection. It is also an option for all of its wired and plug-in cameras, including the Ring Floodlight cam, but not for battery-powered products such as the Ring Stick Up Cam.
End-to-end encryption is now available for all cameras and doorbells currently sold by Ring, with the sole exception of the Ring video doorbell Wired. but the added privacy protection comes with a caveat. With end-to-end encryption turned on, users will lose the ability to preview video in the Ring app’s event timeline view and rich notifications that show a snapshot of the action in the notification before opening the app.
In addition, shared users of Ring devices will not be able to see video on their devices, and no user will be able to share video from the Ring app or view footage on Echo Show devices or in any third-party apps. End-to-end encryption also disables Alexa greetings and quick replies, bird’s-eye views are not available, and on some Ring cameras there is an option to show visitors the path to the doorbell or camera. Disabling end-to-end encryption restores all of these features. For many users, the added privacy protection will lose some convenience features.
